After years of extraordinary leadership, President Ellen Kennedy will retire at the end of the 2025-2026 academic year. Her impact on Berkshire Community College (BCC) and the Berkshires is profound, shaping generations of students, strengthening community partnerships, and deepening BCC's role as a place of opportunity, access, and transformation.
In recognition of her service to the College, BCC is bringing together three connected initiatives that celebrate the College, the community, and the future:
These efforts reflect Ellen's values, her love for this institution, and her belief in education as a force for equity, dignity, and opportunity.
June 4, 2026
Join us for a joyful community celebration open to all students, alumni, employees, retirees, partners, donors and community members. We will come together to celebrate BCC, reflect on shared memories, and recognize Ellen's leadership and lasting impact.
More details coming soon.
In honor of President Kennedy's retirement, BCC is launching a special fundraising initiative to grow the Berkshire Community Impact Fund, an endowed fund that reflects Ellen's deepest values and priorities.
The Impact Fund provides flexible, long-term support to address the most critical needs at BCC. An incredibly generous donor established this fund at the College, and it has been Ellen's favorite ever since.
Your donation helps ensure that BCC can respond to evolving priorities and continue building a brighter future for our students and the Berkshires. This fund supports:
It is not a program-specific fund. It is a mission fund, designed to respond to evolving student and community needs now and in the future.
This initiative will build a lasting foundation of access, dignity, opportunity, and care for generations of BCC students to come. It ensures we can respond to critical priorities, whether that's scholarships, emergency aid, program enhancements, or other opportunities that uplift our students and community.
We can't imagine a more meaningful way to carry Ellen's vision forward and create a brighter future for our students and the Berkshires. Give in honor of President Kennedy, and support the future of BCC.
Dear BCC is a collective, community-wide archival project honoring BCC and the people who make it what it is.
Rather than focusing on a single individual, this project invites the community to share stories, memories, reflections, photos and messages that celebrate:
This tribute will become:
While Dear BCC will ultimately be dedicated to Ellen, its heart is the College itself... its students, its people and its community. Submit a Dear BCC letter . Share your memory. Be part of BCC's history.
Submission Deadline: March 31, 2026
If you wish to contribute physical items (such as letters, photos, programs or other materials), you can do so by dropping off at the Development Offices at BCC (Field 206, Field 207 and Field 208) during business hours (8 a.m. – 4 p.m., Monday – Friday).
If you have large items you'd like featured, please take a photograph of the objects to be included and use the submission form.
Please note: Any physical items submitted in person will become part of the BCC archive and will not be returned.
