Norfolk connections continue to grow

By Virginia Coleman-Prisco

This year, Connecticut State Community College Northwestern marks a significant milestone: 60 years of serving as the primary institution of higher education for the state’s Northwest Corner. Many know it as Northwestern Connecticut Community College (NWCC), but as of 2023 it has been the Northwestern Campus of CT State. This change resulted from the consolidation in 2017 of the state’s 12 community colleges. The largest community college in New England, CT State has 12 campuses, along with satellite locations in every corner of Connecticut, serving the residents of 169 towns, as well as neighbors from Massachusetts, New York and Rhode Island.

Northwestern’s humble beginnings in 1965 have a deep connection with Norfolk. Norfolk native Ralph H. Keiller was a founder, along with Winsted residents such as Shafeek Nader. That year, 157 students were enrolled in the former Gilbert School building. The college has been a constant engine of educational opportunity and economic vitality for Litchfield County ever since.

A key to its longevity and impact has been the deep connection between the college and the towns it serves, a relationship embodied by longtime educator and Norfolk resident Tom Hodgkin, who had a 37-year career in teaching and administration at the college. “I never planned on being an academic,” Hodgkin remembered, but a part-time English course led to a full-time career. He and his wife, Barbara Spiegel, chose to live in Norfolk because of the strong sense of community, a value he found mirrored at the college. Hodgkin noted that “Northwestern always focused on student-centered learning, even before that was a theory.”

Northwestern librarian and Norfolk resident Jeremy Withnell recalled how “Tom Hodgkin, prior to his retirement, was a force of nature among the ranks of the faculty when I first arrived.”
The college achieved full accreditation from the New England Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools in 1971. In 1981, the Northwestern Community College Foundation was established, becoming an independent charitable force that has since supported an $11 million library, helped launch a nursing program and funded critical student success initiatives such as the state’s only Veterinary Technology program.

The college’s economic impact has been profound. To date, the institution has served more than 63,000 students and awarded over 12,000 degrees and certificates.

Through decades of change, the Northwestern campus has maintained its unique identity, a quality it shares with many Norfolk residents who have taught there. These include Bill Brodnitzki, a long-time Norfolker who taught math and computer science at Northwestern and then was a Division Director for many years.

Danielle Whitaker, a full-time employee since 2022, and her spouse, Jay Whitaker, the current Campus Dean of Students and Faculty, also make their home in Norfolk. For Jay Whitaker, the journey to Northwestern and Norfolk was a homecoming. “I grew up in western New England and had been trying to get back ever since my family moved me south when I was 13,” he said. In 2017 he was hired as a full-time English instructor. “I moved to Torrington, sight unseen, from coastal North Carolina to begin the fall semester,” he said.

“My goals were to just teach literature at the college and raise the kids in the beautiful area,” Whitaker continued. But his role evolved unexpectedly. “In 2021, I was appointed interim dean of the college right around the same time we conceived our third child. From that point I felt a stronger leadership role in the community, which led me to be elected to the Board of Education. At the same time, I embraced the administrative role at the college, helping guide the school through the consolidation.”

The Whitakers’ experience with Norfolk began after two years of scouting local towns. “Our experience with Halloween on Maple Avenue convinced us that Norfolk was the place we wanted to raise our kids,” they said.

For Withnell, “It was actually landing a job as a librarian at what was then NWCC 10 years ago that prompted my wife and me to move to northwest Connecticut from the Washington, D.C. area. After renting for a year, we purchased a house in Norfolk, as we had fallen in love with the town and beauty of its natural surroundings. I’d say we have succeeded in our goal of finding a special community to live in permanently and raise our son.”

The connections are both educational and economic. “We provide over 30 nurses to the community every year,” Jay Whitaker noted, adding that “Norfolk Early Learning Center founders Paige and Kailyn teach an early childhood education course at the college and NELC is also an externship site for the program.”
The supportive relationship continues with Northwestern’s small business seminars at the Norfolk Hub, its partnership with Regional 7 school and community resources including a bi-weekly FoodShare truck and flu shot clinics.

Jay Whitaker sees great potential in “a historic, humanities-rich town like Norfolk” to work even more closely with the college. His wife identified Norfolk’s vibrant arts scene as being especially ripe for collaboration, noting the college’s monthly showcase of local artists. Withnell “would like to see more students making their way out to Norfolk and Norfolk residents doing the same by swinging by the college.”

Furthermore, Withnell believes that “one of the largest sources of future collaboration between the college and the town stems from the incredible natural resources and open wild spaces that Norfolk enjoys. Northwestern has a long-running environmental science program whose students could benefit enormously from time spent in the field studying the unique and special habitats found in Norfolk. Billy Gridley of Aton Forest has recently reached out to work on just such a partnership.”

For residents who may only know the college from the outside, the Whitakers see many shared values. “Northwestern is a small school with a big heart. We are creative, innovative and supportive of everyone,” said Danielle Whitaker, while “Norfolk is a small town with a big heart and a supportive community.”

As Litchfield County’s only higher educational institution, Northwestern remains a vital resource in the Northwest Corner. As Connecticut State Northwestern kicks off its 60th-anniversary celebration, it does so not just by reflecting on a storied past, but by looking to a future deeply intertwined with the communities it was built to serve.

Virginia Coleman-Prisco is a lecturer in the Arts & Humanities Department at CT State Northwestern.