Bergen Community College

Bergen Community College alumnus Thomas Derr, ‘17, serves as an adjunct professor of English and Head Coach of Esports.

“Bergen gave me my start,” said Derr. “I came back to Bergen because it represents a full-circle moment for me: from student, to professor, to coach, all in the same place that first believed in me.”

“Bergen Community College has always been more than just a steppingstone for me,” he said. “It has been the foundation of a career dedicated to education, leadership, and community.”

Reflecting on his time as a student at Bergen, he credits the College for instilling in him both the confidence and the curiosity to go further, thus shaping the educator and leader he would later become. Derr pursued a lifelong career in teaching and mentorship.

With more than three decades of experience as a gamer and lifelong passion for building student engagement, Derr has taken on the role of head coach for Bergen’s Esports program. In this new position, he combines his academic expertise, teaching experience, and enthusiasm for gaming to create opportunities for students both in competition and in personal growth.

As a high school social studies teacher in Garfield, Derr has constantly worked to inspire students to see the relevance of history in their own lives. At the same time, he guides students as they develop their voices and critical writing skills by instructing English Composition as an adjunct professor at Bergen.

“What I enjoy most is helping students discover that they’re capable of more than they imagined—whether in writing, history, or esports, those moments of growth are what make teaching at Bergen so rewarding,” he said.

As Derr reflects on Bergen, he believes that being part of a community that opens doors for students, like it did for him, is valuable. Through his full circle journey from student to teacher, and now to mentor and coach, Derr’s story is a testament to the lifelong impact Bergen Community College has on people’s lives.

“To now return as an alumnus, professor, and coach- it feels like a complete circle,” he said. “I want today’s students to see that their time here can open doors they never imagined, just like it did for me.”

Derr earned his associate degree from Bergen in 2017. He holds a bachelor’s degree in history from Rutgers University (2019) and a master’s degree in history from Rutgers University-Newark (2020).

Based in Paramus, Bergen Community College (www.bergen.edu), a public two-year coeducational college, enrolls more than 24,000 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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