Professor Ellen Feig introducing a speaker at a Bergen TEDx event.
PARAMUS, N.J. – Bergen Community College Professor Ellen Feig has received the John and Suanne Roueche Excellence Award from the League for Innovation in the Community College for her work in creating and implementing the TEDx program at the institution. TEDx events provide communities, organizations and individuals the opportunity to stimulate dialogue through guest speakers. Bergen was the first community college in the country to earn a TEDx license in 2014.
“This award recognizes the hard work of the professors and students who have contributed to make this program a success,” Feig said. “In 2018, more than 100 students volunteered at our event and we had more than 300 attendees, including two local area high schools.”
Feig, of Nyack, New York, recalls 2016 as her favorite year of hosting TEDx.
“We had such a diverse group of student volunteers,” she said. “They worked so well together and made the day such a success.”
Bergen’s TEDx events have featured talks on a wide range of issues including the Armenian genocide and the importance of change in the world.
“Our first event was small but our program has grown throughout the years,” Feig said. “Other colleges throughout the country have used our template to start their own TEDx program, which is its own reward. In addition, there have been nearly two million views of our events on the TEDx YouTube channel.”
The League for Innovation established the John and Suanne Roueche Excellence Awards in 2012. These awards are open to league alliance member institutions to celebrate outstanding contributions and leadership by community college faculty and staff. Recipients are recognized in a series of activities and promotions, and honored at special events at the League’s Innovations conference each spring.
Based in Paramus, Bergen Community College (www.bergen.edu), a public two-year coeducational college, enrolls more than 14,000 students at locations in Paramus, the Philip Ciarco Jr. Learning Center in Hackensack and Bergen Community College at the Meadowlands in Lyndhurst. The College offers associate degree, certificate and continuing education programs in a variety of fields. More students graduate from Bergen than any other community college in the state.
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