HCC honors long-time employees at annual Employee Significance Ceremony & Awards Luncheon
Sep 8, 2017
It takes dedication, commitment and loyalty to work and serve anywhere for 35 or 40 years. Employees of Houston Community College (HCC) who reached those incredible milestones, along with other long-time employees, were honored Aug. 22 for their meritorious service.
The employees were recognized at the annual Employee Significance Ceremony & Awards Luncheon at the Bayou City Events Center. The luncheon honored nearly 350 employees who have served from five to 40 years.
Dr. Cesar Maldonado, HCC Chancellor, praised the employees for their dedication. “Whether you were incorporating new technology in the classroom, streamlining our enrollment services or managing real estate transactions that expanded our reach, your commitment to HCC has truly made a difference.”
Nine of the honorees have served HCC for 40 years, while five have been employees for 35 years. Faculty Senate President Dr. Melissa Miller-Waters told all the employees, “It is because of your efforts that HCC is a leader in higher education, not just locally or throughout Texas, but nationally and internationally as well.”
Joining in the praise for the employees’ dedication to service was HCC Board of Trustees Chair Eva Loredo. “Together, you are making our communities stronger and healthier,” she said. “As a result, our students have both a present and a future rich with unlimited possibilities. What you have accomplished is why we choose to be part of the public education system – because we want to make a difference.”
As he recognized the employees, Dr. Maldonado recalled historic events that occurred during the first year of their HCC employment. “Few of us can claim the honor of dedicating 40 years of your life to a single institution,” Dr. Maldonado remarked. “You started the same year that Jimmy Carter was sworn in as president. Also in 1977, Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak incorporated their little computer company: Apple!”
The honorees said they were touched by the ceremony. “It means the world to me to receive this recognition. HCC is my life,” said 35-year employee Annette Lott, an enrollment management officer. “I love our students … it makes me feel so good and I am ready for the next 35 years.”
Roseann Morris, Office Manager for the Office of Institutional Equity, said she has found her 40 years at HCC immensely rewarding. “When you help students, it is the greatest feeling to know that you played a part in their success.”
Dr. Maldonado noted that many changes that had taken place at HCC over the decades. “Many of you have changed right along with it,” he said.
Forty-year HCC employee James Smith couldn’t have agreed more with the Chancellor. A librarian, Smith said he felt blessed to be part of the HCC family for so long. “There was a time in my life in which I used to pick cotton. So, I appreciate and recognize how drastically things have changed. Thank you HCC.”
