HutchCC News

New York Times bestselling author and an award-winning staff writer at The New Yorker magazine David Grann will present the second Dillon Lecture of the 2024 Series. Grann’s lecture will be held Tuesday, April 16 at 10:30 am at the Hutchinson Sports Arena.

His most recent book, The Wager: A Tale of Shipwreck, Mutiny, and Murder, was published in April of 2023. With the twists and turns of a thriller, it tells the true saga of a company of British naval officers and crew that became stranded on a desolate island off the coast of Patagonia and descended into murderous anarchy.

Grann is also the author of Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI, which documented one of the most sinister crimes and racial injustices in American history. It was a #1 New York Times bestseller and was adapted into a major motion picture directed by Martin Scorsese and starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Lily Gladstone, Robert De Niro, and Jesse Plemons, and was nominated for ten Academy Awards.

Grann’s first book, The Lost City of Z: A Tale of Deadly Obsession in the Amazon, was #1 New York Times bestseller and has been translated into more than twenty-five languages.

Tickets to the lecture will be available beginning at 9:45 am the day of the lecture at the Hutchinson Sports Arena.

Grann will appear at a press conference for members of the media prior to the lecture.  The press conference is scheduled at 9:45 a.m. in the Media Interview Room of the Hutchinson Sports Arena.

2024 is the 43rd season for the Dillon Lecture Series on the HutchCC Campus.  For more information on the Dillon Lecture Series or to become a patron, visit www.hutchcc.edu/dls or call Becky Rogers at 620-665-3505.

The Hutchinson Community College Theatre Department will present The Boys Next Door this Friday, Saturday and Sunday, April 12 - 14.  The show will be held at 7:00 p.m. on April 12 - 13 and at 2:00 pm on Sunday, April 14 at the Stringer Fine Arts Center B.J. Warner Recital Hall on the HutchCC campus.  Ticket prices are $10 for adults, $8 for seniors and $5 for non-HutchCC students and will be available nightly prior to each performance.

The Boys Next Door is a play by Tom Griffin, first produced in 1986. Set in the Boston area, it deals with four men with various mental disabilities who live in a group home. It takes place over roughly a two-month period and consists of brief vignettes about the men's lives. The play provides a humorous commentary on the men's lives, taking a surprising turn as Barry's father comes to visit and as Jack (their caretaker) accepts a new job. It was adapted into a television film in 1996 by Hallmark Entertainment. The show is being produced in collaboration with TECH with the goal of connecting with the audience to educate and advocate.

The production will be directed by Shane Dawson, HutchCC’s Production Manager.  For more information regarding the production, contact the director at 620-665-3341 or by e-mail at dawsons@hutchcc.edu.

Megan Ratzlaff, daughter of Ric and Susie Ratzlaff of Buhler, Kansas, is one of 459 community college students nationwide who were named semi-finalists in the 2024 Jack Kent Cooke Undergraduate Transfer Scholarship competition. She is the only student listed for the state of Kansas who will advance to the finalist round. In addition to this, she is one of 150 community college students nationwide who were named to the 2024 Coca-Cola Academic Team. 

Over 1,600 applicants applied this year for the highly competitive Jack Kent Cooke Undergraduate Transfer Scholarship, which can supply up to $55,000 per year for two or three years to help transfer students complete a bachelor’s degree at any accredited four-year undergraduate institution in the U.S. This scholarship aims to help students who have demonstrated exceptional academic ability, leadership, and service transfer to top four-year universities and avoid student debt. Finalists for the Jack Kent Cooke Undergraduate Transfer Scholarship will be announced in May. 

The Coca-Cola Academic Team Scholarship, for which over 2,200 students applied this year, is administered by Phi Theta Kappa, an international honors organization for two-year colleges. The academic team application is open to non-members in addition to members of Phi Theta Kappa with applicants having been nominated by their college’s designated nominator and having demonstrated outstanding academic achievement as well as significant campus and/or community leadership and service. Each of the 50 winners of the bronze-level designation will receive a $1000 scholarship and will be presented with a medallion at their respective All-State Academic Team ceremonies. 

Megan is a sophomore studying Political Science and History. She currently holds leadership positions in Phi Theta Kappa, the Honors Program, and Campus Crusade for Christ as well as plays in the Symphonic Band at HutchCC. Outside of school, Megan works part-time at RCB Bank and serves the Lord with her church family at Medora Community Bible Church. She plans to transfer to Sterling College in the fall to pursue a bachelor’s degree in History with a double minor in Music and English, where she also plans on being involved in Sterling’s Symphonic Band, Piano Program, Choir, Honors Program and Student Government. 

“It is such an incredible honor to be able to represent my community, my college, my state, and my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ on the national level in this way,” Megan says. “I view these awards as opportunities entrusted to me so that I can point others to Christ and say a special thank you to all the incredible people in my life. I couldn’t have gotten this far without God’s faithfulness or without all of the people He has blessed me with, so thank you all for your incredible support.”  

The Hutchinson Community College Board of Trustees’ March meeting contained a number of items of routine business as well as updates on its Higher Learning Commission accreditation and its Strategic Planning initiatives.

In addition, the Board received recommendations on the purchase and implementation of a new Student Information System (SIS) and a new Human Resources/Payroll system. The SIS is a platform that will help the College collect and maintain student data for easier management so that it can efficiently track progress and performance. The new system will replace an existing system that is approaching end-of-life. The Human Resources/Payroll system will greatly enhance the College’s current system by streamlining its processes to better serve its employees.

Board Chair Terry Bisbee provided an update on the search for a new President to replace the retiring Dr. Carter File. The search committee met in late February to narrow the field of applicants to a list of semi-finalists to be brought to Hutchinson for interviews.

The next meeting of the board will be on Thursday, May 9 at 7:00 p.m. in the Shears Technology Center Justice Theater. The public is invited to attend. Board meeting agendas and information can be found at www.hutchcc.edu/boardmeetings.

For more information on Hutchinson Community College, visit the college website at www.hutchcc.edu.