Press Release

BHCC Student Takes Winning Video to Washington D.C.

Sunday, August 8, 2010

April 8, 2010. Boston, MA. Dennis Medina, a Boston police officer attending Bunker Hill Community College, is one of five winners of a video competition for non-traditional students. Medina, along with four other winners, will travel to Washington D.C. in mid-April to meet with federal legislators and policymakers to discuss federal initiatives for helping students complete college.

The five winning videos were chosen from 200 entries in the “Take America to College” nationwide competition. The competition  was sponsored by Purple States, a media company that dramatizes what is at stake for the public in policy decisions, in conjunction with Banyan Branch, a media marketing group, and DCTV, a media arts organization that works to expand public access to the electronic media arts. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation provided funding for the project. 

In his video, Medina recounts his repeated efforts to secure a college degree, stating that family responsibilities often got in the way of  fulfilling his educational dreams. With a somber, policeman’s voice, his video-story tells of his hopes and struggles: “When I was employed by the Corrections Department I started taking college classes again, but money got tight, and life got in the way.  When I moved to the Boston Police Department, I realized that without a college degree I couldn’t further my career.  I can only take one or two classes a semester -- night classes, sometimes midnight classes.” 

Medina’s video – along with the other winning entries – can be viewed at http://www.takeamericatocollege.com.

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About Bunker Hill Community College
Bunker Hill Community College is the largest community college in Massachusetts, enrolling approximately 18,000 students annually. BHCC has two campuses in Charlestown and Chelsea, and a number of other locations throughout the Greater Boston area. BHCC is one of the most diverse institutions of higher education in Massachusetts. Sixty-five percent of the students are people of color and more than half of BHCC's students are women. The College also enrolls nearly 600 international students who come from 94 countries and speak more than 75 languages.