MCC to Host Launch Party of Its 50-Year History Book Friday, December 12

MCC will host a book launch and signing party for the newly released history of the college, Education that Liberates and Ennobles: A History of an American Community College, by Susan Phillips Plese. The event will be held Friday, December 12, from 3:30 to 5 p.m., at the Manchester Community College Arts and Education Center at 903 Main Street – also known as MCC on Main.

Light refreshments, compliments of Highland Park Market, will be served. Following opening remarks by MCC President Gena Glickman, Ph.D., Plese will read select passages from the book.

She will also sign copies, which will be for sale at the event. The cover price for one copy is $55, or buy three each for the cover price and get a fourth book free. Purchases can be made with cash, check or credit card.

Plese has researched the unique and colorful story of a small group of Manchester residents who worked tirelessly to bring higher education to the City of Village Charm. Overall, the founding of MCC was part of a national movement to provide access to higher education to all who wished to pursue it. Today, Manchester Community College is one of the largest two-year schools in Connecticut, serving more than 16,000 credit and non-credit students per year, and is nationally known for its quality programs.

“This is a story captures the oral histories and memories of faculty, staff and students whose lives have been changed and careers have been made as a result of their unique MCC experience,” Plese said.

The history project is supported by funds from the MCC Foundation.

Following the book signing, launch party-goers are welcome to stay and attend BaR-Rated trivia at MCC on Main from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. in the gallery. The price for the trivia event is $5. Prizes will be awarded.

Copies of Education that Liberates and Ennobles: A History of an American Community College can also be ordered online for the cover price plus shipping.

About the Author – Susan Phillips Plese has lived in Manchester since 1969. She was a news writer and columnist for the Manchester Herald and the Hartford Courant and editor of Hartford Woman. An MCC adjunct professor from 1970 to 1990, she was then hired full-time to teach news and feature writing, as well as mentor students at the Live Wire student newspaper