Happy Thanksgiving!

We were honored to welcome some of our neighbors to the Kahlert Foundation Complex this afternoon for a free community Thanksgiving Dinner. This inaugural event was created in collaboration with Tracy Broccolino and the Community Action Council, and Amanda Hof with Visit Howard County.

I sincerely want to thank them for their partnership and vision, and the dozens of hard-working volunteers from HCC, CAC, and Visit Howard County for their commitment to our neighbors. I hope you join me in especially thanking our dynamic staff from the Office of Facilities, who created a fantastic experience for our diners and volunteers. They made this event go from idea to execution in a tremendous way and represented our college with professionalism and enthusiasm.

Thanksgiving is a joyous time to reflect with loved ones and to share sentiments of gratitude — for resources we enjoy, for fulfilling relationships, for opportunities to grow, and for experiences that have taught us how to be better in all that we do.

Part of the gratitude we share is in remembering and supporting those who mark this day with solemnity. We are thinking of dear friends and family who come to the table missing or mourning a beloved presence no longer with us. We think of our military families and relatives of first responders, who will celebrate the holiday in different ways to connect with those who are honorably serving our communities and nation as we gather.

We are a compilation of so many wonderful people. Every day, we all intersect in the human experience of triumph, tragedy, and learning. Today, I want you to know how grateful I am to be a part of this community and to share the evolution of Dragon Country with all of you. I am thankful to be part of a campus that knows education is the greatest asset in any civil and peaceful society, whose members constantly seek to be more perfect tomorrow than they were the day before.

On behalf of our Board of Trustees and our senior leadership team, I want to wish our entire campus community a Happy Thanksgiving celebration. I wish you and your families rest, many laughs, fond memories, and rejuvenation. Thank you for your hard work, and I look forward to seeing you all on Monday.