After more than two decades of bringing celebrity speakers to the Mill City, the Middlesex Community College Foundation is heading south this fall and will present its first Fall 2022 Celebrity Forum, featuring Kal Penn – actor, author and former White House Associate Director.
The fundraising event will take place on Wednesday, December 14 at Cary Hall Lexington, the sister venue to the Lowell Memorial Auditorium. Both facilities are managed by Spectacle Live.
Proceeds from the event provide support for scholarships for Middlesex students. A donor reception will start off the event at 6 p.m., followed by dinner and the 8 p.m. conversation between Penn and MCC President Phil Sisson.
“I am very much looking forward to sitting down and engaging in conversation with Kal Penn about his illustrious career in both the performing arts and political world,” President Sisson said. “After reading his book ‘You Can’t Be Serious,’ I became fascinated by his personal journey and believe he has a wonderful story to share with the MCC community. The Celebrity Forum allows Middlesex and the MCC Foundation to meet our shared mission of providing an equitable and accessible education to so many students who would not otherwise be able to afford the costs of attending college. It is an honor to bring this over 20-year community tradition to Lexington’s historic Cary Hall and celebrate an evening of culture, entertainment and philanthropy.”
MCC hosted its first Celebrity Forum since the COVID-19 pandemic in Spring 2022, featuring singer and actress Darlene Love. This Fall’s event with Penn is the first to ever be held in Lexington.
“The work of the MCC Foundation allows the college to enrich the lives of the students whose access to education makes a great impact, and those of community members who thrive off of educational and cultural enrichment,” said Judy Burke, MCC’s Executive Director of Institutional Advancement. “It has never been a more important time to learn, grow and come together as a community, in the name of supporting student success. We are thrilled to be able to expand our event to the Lexington area and welcome a phenomenal talent in Kal Penn to the stage.”
Penn is known for his starring roles in “Designated Survivor,” “House,” “The Namesake,” the “Harold & Kumar” franchise, and the patriotic immigration sitcom “Sunnyside.” He recently wrapped production on the CBS Drama, “Clarice” and Freeform’s late night youth election format show “Kal Penn Approves This Message.” Penn currently stars in the animated Disney Junior series “Mira, Royal Detective,” Nickelodeon’s “It’s Pony,” and the culinary competition series “Money Hungry” on Food Network.
From 2009 to 2011, Penn served as the Obama/Biden administration’s President’s Liaison to Young Americans, Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders, and the Arts community. He was a national co-chair for the Obama/Biden re-election campaign in 2012 and was a term member at the Council on Foreign Relations. Penn’s first book “You Can’t Be Serious” was released on November 2, 2021 from Simon and Schuster/Gallery Books.
In the past, MCC Celebrity Forum in Lowell featured such speakers as Walter Cronkite, Robert Redford, Jay Leno, William Shatner, Jamie Lee Curtis, Michael J. Fox and several others.
For information about sponsorship opportunities, visit www.middlesex.mass.edu/fall22cf<https://linkprotect.cudasvc.com/url?a=http%3a%2f%2fwww.middlesex.mass.edu%2ffall22cf&c=E,1,IsISHpt6hVsZg_pLFsGpHxldU0N2SZlOy5RgoBZL16prgWMzK4a48NAIjEMokm2V0u5UDe6DYLJMEw_PXRYIM5FALO_A8PGwgv7aopTS7xrYIGizC9r4Tm02jOM,&typo=1> or contact Sherri McCormack, MCC’s Dean of Advancement at 978-656-3034 or mccormacks@middlesex.mass.edu<mailto:mccormacks@middlesex.mass.edu>. To purchase tickets, contact Cary Hall at 781-862-0500.
Got any ideas for future speakers you’d like to see the college feature? Leave us a suggestion in the comments!
