Hall Of Famers Inducted

Gateway Community College submitted the following release.

More that 200 from the Greater New Haven community gathered in the Curran Community Center at Gateway Community College on Oct. 5 to celebrate six new inductees at the Gateway Community College Foundation’s 20th Hall of Fame Induction and Celebration.

The annual event, which is the largest scholarship fundraiser of the year, honors outstanding including alumni, corporate and community leader, who demonstrate a commitment to the educational mission of Gateway Community College through distinguished service to the community and the college.

This year’s inductees include community honorees, State Rep. Toni E. Walker, MSW, Connecticut General Assembly and Henry Fernandez, Executive Director, LEAP; corporate honorees Kevin E. Burke, Senior Vice President and Region Head Greater New York and Connecticut
Wells Fargo Bank, N.A., and Christopher M. O’Connor, Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer, Yale-New Haven Health; and Gateway alums, Justin Eric Raffone, Parts and Service Director, Colonial Toyota in Milford and Erin M. Randi, Water Pollution Control Technician, Town of South Windsor Water Pollution Control.

The 20th Hall of Fame was the first for Dr. Paul Broadie II, who paid homage to his predecessor, Dorsey Kendrick, in his welcome remarks. ​“I cannot fill her shoes,” he declared. ​“But I will stand on her shoulders and continue the important work she started.”

Broadie was followed by Gateway student, Connor Pullen, a US Army veteran and first responder, who spoke about the importance and impact of Foundation scholarships on students who struggle to afford books and tuition. ​“It changed my life,” Pullen said.

Event Chair, Thomas Beirne III, Vice President at Halsey Associates, and Secretary of the GCC Foundation Board, told the crowd that the event ​“sends a powerful message to the students that their local leaders share and support their academic and professional aspirations.” Honorary Chair, Brigadier General Army (Ret.), Senior Vice President, Military and Veteran’s Affairs at Comcast NBC Universal

The GCC Foundation Board, Chaired by Mimi Lines, Counsel at Robinson + Cole, LLP, is dedicated to raising scholarship funds for Gateway Community College students. The Hall of Fame event is the largest source of scholarship revenue for GCC students, thereby allowing the Foundation to award more than $100,000 in scholarships each year. 

“The GCC Foundation held its first Hall of Fame event in 1997 to raise scholarship funds,” Lines explains. ​“Now, 20 years later, more than two-thirds of Gateway students still require some form of assistance to attend college. The funds raised from this year’s Hall of Fame event will make a difference in the lives of so many of our students.” 

Over the years, the Gateway Community College Foundation Hall of Fame Induction and Reception has become increasingly popular, bringing community and business leaders together to raise funds that are reinvested in the community by way of student scholarships. ​“There is an ever increasing demand for our graduates in many different industries, and it is typical that GCC students work and live right here in the region,” explains Beirne. ​“We know that our scholarship program is the economic engine that helps students realize their dreams. Our collective financial success is dependent on a skilled, diverse, educated and vibrant community.”

The Gateway Community College Foundation Hall of Fame Induction and Reception is made possible through generous support from Comcast, William E. Curran, Wells Fargo Bank, N.A., Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield, Robinson + Cole LLP, and Yale New Haven Health.