Gateway Community College (GCC) President Dr. Dorsey L. Kendrick administered a Pledge to Complete to new students during New Student Orientation January 15, urging students to work to attain a short- term goal and make a commitment to graduate.

“You really have to visualize what you want your life to be,” Dr. Kendrick said. “What are some things you will have to do to get there?”

The new students, their families, Dr. Kendrick, GCC Deans, faculty and staff members joined together in stating the pledge. “As I begin my academic journey at Gateway Community College, I make this pledge that no matter what it takes, how long it takes, or how challenging the journey, I will complete my goal to...” Each person filled in the blank. Afterward, GCC orientation leaders gave each new student a blue wrist band that read, “I commit to complete.” 

Dr. Kendrick told students to seek the support of the GCC community whenever they needed it.  She read from the lines of a poem by an anonymous author, “When the funds are low and the debts are high/ And when you want to smile, but you have to sigh/When care is pressing you down a bit/Rest - if you must – but don’t quit.”

Roberta Prior, director of Student Leadership Programs and Activities, encouraged students to get  involved and to enjoy the beauty of the new campus. “The college itself is warm and welcoming and now we have a new campus that feels like home,” she said.

Symphany Joseph, Student Government Association president, invited students to join clubs and become part of campus life. New student orientation leaders Joseph, Kyle Rogers, Genesis Pabon, NellyAnne Rios, Jonathan Clarke and Adon Duncanson met with the students in small groups, sharing insights about Gateway and answering questions. The new students toured the campus and the Library and Learning Commons while their parents and spouses met with GCC Deans.

A panel of GCC faculty and staff told students to make academics their central focus and to use all of the resources available to them. Reverend John Henry Scott III, GCC business professor and recipient of numerous prestigious awards including the U.S. Small Business Administration’s 2005 Minority Small Business Champion Award for Connecticut and New England, spoke about living the American dream. 

The pledge the new students made – to seek short and long-term success and to graduate - matters to everyone at Gateway, said Michael Buccilli, GCC director of Counseling and Student Services.

“We want you to complete your classes. We took the pledge with you,” he said.

“It is a promise to yourself and to us - to fulfill your human potential,” added Prior.