Professor Lucy Hurston to Serve as MCC Faculty Fellow for Community Engagement; Will Help Drive ICEO Activities

Manchester, Conn. (May 15, 2017) – Lucy Hurston ’93, department chair of sociology, has been named the 2017-2018 faculty fellow for community engagement.

In this role, Professor Hurston succeeds Professor Megan Finley, who served with distinction as the faculty fellow from 2015 to 2017. The faculty fellow for community engagement works closely with the president and institutional advancement offices to support strategic goals regarding community engagement and to represent MCC’s academic interests in community outreach activities.

Hurston will serve as a key driver for MCC’s Institute for Community Engagement and Outreach (ICEO), which engages in partnerships with the 15 communities surrounding its campus and beyond.

Sara Vincent, director of community outreach, said, “The Institute for Community Engagement consists of four centers to support our service district. They are the Public Policy and Service Center, Business and Economic Development Center, Community Partnerships Center, and Educational Partnership Center. These centers offer and respond to requests for education, career placement, service learning, training, programming, service projects and technical assistance designed to enrich the economic, civic and cultural lives of area residents and the prosperity of local and regional businesses.”

MCC President Gena Glickman, Ph.D., noted that the ICEO and the faculty fellow are an important part of the college’s mission. She is pleased to see Hurston pick up the torch. “Professor Hurston is an inspiring leader and MCC’s quintessential volunteer,” Dr. Glickman said. “She has, on several occasions, broadened student service-learning opportunities, for example leading MCC students to New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina to work with the New Orleans Chapter of Habitat for Humanity in the Lower Ninth Ward.”

Hurston has been a champion for enlisting volunteers, including her students, both on and off campus. She works with organizations such as MACC food kitchens, local food pantries and shelters, Foodshare and other community-based organization. As part of her program curriculum, Hurston requires students to participate a service learning project at the end of the year. She was honored as the MCC Foundation’s 2017 Volunteer of the Year for her work at the college and within the community.

For more information, visit the ICEO webpage.