Rockland is one of eight SUNY campuses, and the only SUNY community college, to receive the recognition.
SUFFERN, N.Y. — Rockland Community College (RCC) has received the 2026 Higher Education Excellence and Distinction (HEED) Award from INSIGHT Into Academia magazine, the nation’s oldest and largest diversity-focused publication in higher education. This marks the sixth consecutive year RCC has been named a HEED Award recipient.
The HEED Award recognizes U.S. colleges and universities demonstrating an outstanding commitment to academic excellence, belonging and community building across all levels of campus life. RCC is one of 60 institutions to be featured in the October 2026 issue of INSIGHT Into Academia.
College leaders emphasized that the recognition reflects both RCC’s established campus culture and its continued efforts to strengthen belonging and engagement.
“Being recognized with the HEED Award for the sixth consecutive year is especially meaningful because it reflects the culture we continue to build at Rockland Community College,” said Dr. William P. Mullaney, president of Rockland Community College. “This recognition belongs to our entire campus community and reinforces our ongoing commitment to ensuring every student has the opportunity, support and sense of belonging they need to thrive.”
Building on that institution-wide commitment, RCC’s diversity leadership highlighted how a new focus on pluralism helps translate belonging into constructive engagement across differences. “RCC is deepening its commitment to equity, inclusion and civic engagement by advancing pluralism. Through this work, the College is cultivating the relationships, mutual understanding and shared purpose that enable people across differences to engage constructively and work toward common goals,” said Melissa L. Roy, JD, chief diversity officer and director of the Office of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion at Rockland Community College.
“We use a detailed scoring process as well as a holistic approach to reviewing each application to determine who will be named a HEED Award recipient. Our standards are high, and we look for institutions where academic excellence and belonging are woven into the work being done every day across their campus,” said Lenore Pearlstein, co-publisher of INSIGHT Into Academia magazine.
For more information about the 2026 HEED Award, visit insightintoacademia.com. To learn more about Rockland Community College, visit sunyrockland.edu.