HCC to Graduate Largest Class in History this Month

The school will graduate over 1,200 students who will receive either degrees or certificates.

  Howard Community College announced Tuesday they will graduate over 1,200 students from a wide range of programs this month. A total of 1,272 degrees or certificates will have been earned this year by students at HCC, according to the announcement. "An increased number of students came to the college due to the economic decline and HCC did experience considerable growth as a result," said Nancy Gainer, a HCC spokesperson, in an email. She said the college is also encouraging students to secure their degrees before transferring to a four-year college. "More importantly, students are coming to HCC because they recognize that they can receive a quality education while saving thousands of dollars," said Gainer, in an email. The large class …

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Former Jamaican Olympic Sprinter Sets Roots in Howard County

Sanjay Ayre won the silver medal as part of the Jamaican men's 4x400 sprint team, now he's starting a training business in Howard County and coaching at HCC.

Originally published Jan. 23, 2013. Just qualifying for the Olympics is quite a feat, but to compete on the Jamaican National sprint team--that's an entirely different achievement. In 1999, Sanjay Ayre was a 19-year-old sprinter living in the Bronx, NY who had just won gold in the 400-meter dash at the Pan American Junior Championships. The next year, Ayre began his college career at Auburn University where his coach encouraged him to try out for the Jamaican Olympic team. At the time, Ayre was 20 and a Jamaican citizen. "Track and field is by far the biggest sport in Jamaica," said Ayre, who recently opened up his own training center in Howard County and serves as the men's sprint coach for Howard Community College. "The fans are very …

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Perfect Prom Project to Help Those In Need

A Howard Community College class organized the project to offer dresses, accessories and shoes to local high school women.

  One Howard Community College class is leading a community-wide effort dedicated to helping young women find the perfect prom dress at no cost to them. The class started last year to help families who struggle with finances afford the cost of prom for their daughters, according to assistant professor Jodi Fisher, who teaches the class. This year, the class of 23 students in Event Management 164 will open a “boutique” on the college’s campus, for one night only on Thursday. The event invites students to choose from more than 250 dresses and 50 pairs of shoes, and offers styling tips on hair and makeup, according to the students. “We call it the perfect prom shopping party,” said Fisher, who started the class in conjunction with the Center …

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Jamaican Sprinter Finding Success in HoCo

A former Jamaican Olympian now coaching at Howard Community College.

New $50 Million Health Sciences Building Opens at HCC

A ribbon cutting for the new building took place on Monday morning.

  William Fisher, the director of cardiovascular technology, stood in the middle of his new classroom inside the new health sciences building at Howard Community College. He was showing people on a tour the new emergency room-like suite, the training beds, the shiny floor and all the new space he has. "Before, we were training in a classroom a quarter of the size of this," said Fisher. "This will be a whole new level of training." Local political and educational leaders gathered with students and residents at the ribbon cutting for Howard Community College's new $50.7 million Health Sciences Building. "It's a student-centered building," said Georgene Butler, president of health sciences at HCC, "and we're well-poised for continued growth…

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Time Capsule Ceremony Commemorates New HCC Health Sciences Building

Students, faculty and administrators of Howard Community College gathered to seal a time capsule at the new Health Sciences Building on Wednesday.

At the new Howard Community College Heath Sciences Building on Wednesday afternoon members of the HCC health sciences community came together to entomb mementos of modern health care in a time capsule that will be sealed for 50 years inside the building. The building is scheduled to officially open in January, but it's an HCC tradition to create a time capsule in new buildings, according to Dr. Georgene Butler, who emceed the ceremony. Nursing students wearing lab coats, radiologists, dental students, professors and administrators gathered  to watch objects like a pedomoeter, textbooks, a photo album, gastronomy tubes, and a November 2012 copy of the HCC Times dropped crate by crate into the time capsule. Each division of the health …

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Andrew Metcalf

3:34 pm on Friday, November 16, 2012

Yes! Exciting stuff, well next time if you see me out (normally I have a camera/ black backpack on) say hello!   more ›

HCC Closes Early Due to Water Main Break

Howard Community College closed early and cancelled athletic activities and evening classes.

    Howard Community College closed at 2 p.m. Tuesday, cancelled athletic activities and evening classes after a water main break occurred at the college on Tuesday afternoon. The water main is the college’s main incoming water source from the county, according to HCC spokesperson Michael Scrivener. "Normal wear and age could potentially cause a pipe to deteriorate," wrote Scrivener in an email. "The college’s contractor and staff are excavating the pipe currently and won’t be able to determine repair time until then." A spokesperson from Howard County Department of Public Works said the college is on a private water main. The Children's Learning Center and Hickory Ridge Building will remain open because they are on a different water main …

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Bomb Threat at HCC: False Alarm

Some buildings were evacuated.

A bomb threat at Howard Community College turned out to be an unfounded threat, police said. Howard Community College staff and students received the following email at 9:52 a.m. with the subject "EVACUATE NOW":     By 10:45 a.m., staff and students were returning to the buildings. Howard County police spokesperson Sherry Llewellyn said that there was no bomb. "We checked it out," she wrote in an email. "Nothing there. School is open and fine." With reporting by Patch.com editors Elizabeth Janney and Brian Hooks.

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LOOK: Public Art Popping Up Around Town

Have you seen this new art?

Patrons of local libraries and public places around Columbia may find the scenery a little more aesthetically pleasing these days. Structures approved by the Howard County Arts Council have been installed in several locations across Columbia and Howard County. The installations are part of ARTsites, a year-long public art project celebrating 30 years of the Howard County Arts Council. HCAC anticipates putting the following 12 sculptures around the county:

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Kony Activists to 'Blanket the Night' in Columbia

Despite the campaign's recent setbacks, activists in Columbia plan on putting up posters of the notorious African warlord on Friday night.

Despite adverse publicity surrounding the creator of a viral Internet video exposing African warlord Joseph Kony, local supporters of the effort to bring Kony to justice are continuing with their own plans. Nathan Warfel, a Howard Community College student, has organized a Facebook group and invited other students to help him hang posters locally on April 20 to continue drawing attention to Kony, who is accused by some of abducting thousands of children in Uganda to serve in his military cause. Warfel's efforts are part of a larger campiagn called “Blanket the Night” to hang posters across America, and the call to continue drawing notoriety to Kony was at the end of the now-famous video, Kony 2012. The effort to bring Kony to justice may …

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