Naugatuck Valley Community College President Daisy Cocco De Filippis Ph.D., students, faculty and staff welcomed Connecticut State Colleges and Universities President Mark Ojakian to campus on November 5 for a campus conversation. Ojakian, who was appointed by the Board of Regents for Higher Education in August and formally began his tenure on September 28, has been visiting all 17 CSCU campuses.

“I’m really doing this to listen, to learn, to understand,” said Ojakian, who has a 35-year career in public service, working most recently as chief of staff to Governor Dannel P. Malloy before beginning his leadership of the CSCU system, which serves more than 90,000 students.

“We will work with you to help you make our system the best one in the world,” said President De Filippis in welcoming remarks to President Ojakian. “We are extending our hand to him and he’s extending his hand to us and we’re going to work together as a team to make wonderful things happen.” 

Representing the NVCC Faculty Senate, Professor David Clough also greeted President Ojakian and said that the faculty is eager to work with him, noting that Ojakian’s messages of inclusion, open communication and collaboration have been well-received.

“Today, we call you family,” said Student Government Association President Katherine Abreu. “We open the doors of Naugatuck Valley Community College and welcome you into the campus. We extend our hand to you for all of the continued support and the hard work that is being done through the campus.”

“I come from very much a group that’s in this room,” said President Ojakian. He spoke of his upbringing in a lower-middle-class family, which instilled the values of education, hard work, and doing for oneself. Ojakian said his first job was at a supermarket at the age of 16 where he bagged groceries and rounded up shopping carts so that he could have a little pocket money in high school. After graduation, he worked his way through college and grad school by taking out loans and working at factories and other jobs during the summer.

“I’ve learned from my upbringing and the way I’ve gotten here today, that hard work matters,” said President Ojakian. “And I appreciate all of the efforts of everybody in this room, to make sure that hard work does result in good things for students.”

During his campus visit, Ojakian also participated in a luncheon with local educational, business and community leaders and toured NVCC’s Advanced Manufacturing Technology Center.

“What we all do—in this building and other buildings—is for our students,” he said.