MCC Presents 2017 Black History Month Leadership Awards

Manchester, Conn. (February 6, 2017) – To kick off Manchester Community College’s 2017 Black History Month celebrations, the college bestowed its annual awards at an opening ceremony under the banner theme, “Love and Justice Matters.”

From left, Dr. Simmons, Phillip Hylton, Semoy Lester and Andrew Woods.

Award winners were Semoy Lester and Phillip Hylton, recipients of the Student Leadership Awards; Dr. Deborah Simmons, of the Employee Leadership Award; and Andrew Woods, executive director, Hartford Communities That Care, Inc., of the Community Leadership Award.

Recipients were honored at the opening ceremony Wednesday, Feb. 1.

Student Leadership winner Semoy Lester, of East Hartford, is a third semester liberal arts major who was born and raised in St. Andrew, Jamaica, where her love for helping her peers blossomed both in high school and at MCC. She is a member of the MCC Christian Fellowship, Student Government Association and is an ambassador for the Sister-2-Sister mentorship program.

Phillip Hylton, of Hartford, is an international student, also a native of Jamaica, who is currently enrolled in the Marketing program. He is an active member of the Applied Business Concepts student club and is involved with the Brother-2-Brother program. He credits his parents for instilling in himself and his three siblings the value of education,perseverance, high standards and strong work ethic.

Employee Leadership Award winner Deborah Simmons, Ph.D., of Glastonbury, has been a part of the Music Studies department at MCC for over 25 years. Currently she serves as coordinator of the program and, with her colleague Dr. Carolina Flores, is responsible for earning the college’s program accreditation from the National Association of Schools of Music (NASM). MCC is the only community college in the state with this accreditation, which improves opportunities for transfer articulation agreements with baccalaureate institutions.

Community Leadership Award winner Andrew Woods, of Hartford, is the founding executive director of Hartford Communities That Care, a non-profit that specializes in youth development, afterschool programs, crisis response services, gang intervention, mentoring, community organizing, and public policy efforts. Woods has founded, led or participated in initiatives to help improve quality of life in greater Hartford. He holds degrees from Springfield College and UConn and is also a commissioned appointee of Governor Dannel P. Malloy on the State of Connecticut Victims’ Rights Enforcement Advisory Commission.

MCC Black History Month is sponsored by the Office of Student Activities, Office of Mentoring and Cultural Programs, and the MCC Minority Caucus.

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