Unity in Community

It was the summer of 1977, my grandfather had just passed away and I lived with only my mother and my grandmother. We were in the process of moving and relocating from Utah to New York. Along the way, we stopped in Arizona to stay with my uncle while on route to the Empire State. During our stay in the dry desert, just outside of Phoenix, my mother and grandmother took me to see a film that people were just starting to talk about. Little did I (or anyone) know how much that seemingly innocuous trip to a local cinema in Arizona would change my life, and the lives of many others, forever.

The movie was Star Wars. That was the only title at that time, there was no subtitle, no expectations, no gluttony of action figures, or much of any merchandising to speak of yet. The film was only just released. However, the initial buzz was positive. It was supposed to a fun and exciting science fantasy film, so to pass the time as we dealt with the loss of my grandfather and our move to New York, I was taken to see it.

I cannot particularly recall my actual first viewing, as I was nearly two years of age, and since the sheer staggering amount of subsequent viewings would make a statistician flush with focus to prove their worth in racing to keep track of the nearly incalculable number. However, that single act of going to the cinema on one hot evening in Arizona made such a colossal impact on my young mind that it would help guide my consciousness for the rest of my life.

Star Wars, in all its wonder and amazement, became much more than a simple hobby for me. It was a universe in which I could instantly escape into with a single thought. It was a place of infinite possibilities, filled with excitement and danger, mystery and intrigue, but most of all…with love and comradery. The universe that George Lucas created was always much deeper and more significant that a summer film to occupy the minds of children. It certainly did that, but there was always a more resonate chamber in which that story existed. Star Wars instantly became a cultural and global phenomenon, loved and cherish the world over.

There was a poster released back in the 1980s that read: “Everything I ever needed to know, I learned from watching Star Wars.” It was meant to be a fun novelty item, but there was some truth in that for me (and for many people of the often-overlooked Generation X). My love of Star Wars was partially responsible for my pursuit of acting as a vocation.

As I ventured into that world in my reality, I was engaged more deeply in the cinema, music, filmmaking, scriptwriting, literature, and theatre. Eventually I was turned on to Shakespeare and the then the art of Theatrical Stage Combat (a field in which I earned a rigorous teacher certification). The twists and turns in my intellectual pursuits and curiosities ultimately lead me to do what Yoda, as he lay dying, requested of Luke Skywalker, just before becoming one with the Force: “Pass on what you have learned.” Before I knew it, that is exactly what I was doing and what I continue to do.

In the years since coming to RCC and co-founding the Rockland Shakespeare Company a quarter century ago, I have created and taught many courses at the college. However, with the creation of the Star Wars: Movies to Modern Myth and the Theatrical Stage Combat: Lightsaber courses, I have come full-circle and revisited the source…or the Force behind my path to education and mentoring young actors.

Once established, both courses have become two of the most popular in the Visual and Performing Arts department. They continually attract a large and diverse group of students, looking to experience something special and learn about this unique universe and the impact it has had (and continues to have) on our popular culture, our society, and on our world.

I am proud and honored to have been able to continually mentor a wide range of students from every background imaginable as we come together, joined by a common bond…a global community, that feels like a family, built upon a foundation of that ultimate love and comradery that George Lucas has given the world in the form of the Star Wars universe.

Christopher Plummer
Director – Cultural Arts Theatre – Rockland Community College
Co-Founder/Co-Artistic Director – Rockland Shakespeare Company
Certified Teacher/Advanced Actor-Combatant – Society of American Fight Directors

While working in the St. Lucian government service which included working with Prime Ministers from other islands and members of the International Monitory Fund (IMF), I was introduced to RCC by my sister as part of her leadership with the Partners of the America’s program of which Rockland is St. Lucia’s partner (I was president of the board for a while). With this, I started as a student in the then Automated Office Technologies (now Office Technologies) program in September of 1985.

Graduated in ’87 and transferred to Mercy College to continue in business while I continued to work at RCC as a student worker managing a computer lab and assisting students in what was then Building A, oh the old days. After a few years, completed my MBA at St. Thomas Aquinas six months earlier than schedule.

After completing my degree with Mercy, December 1989, was assigned my first class as an adjunct in the Office Technologies Department in Spring 1990 while still managing the lab and assisting students in the program.

Later moved to HR as a Paraprofessional and then to IT as a Computer Support Technician to be later promoted to the position as the first Local Area Network (LAN) Administrator; all of this while I continued to adjunct with the Business Department and taking classes with the newly formed Computer Networking Department, created and headed by Nicole Hanaburgh. After receiving my degree as one of the first graduates, I was recruited by Morton Leifer and Nicole to adjunct for that department and later recommended for a full time position under the program, “Grow Your Own.”

During my lengthy tenure as department chair, I oversaw Computer Studies, Computer Assisted Design, and Cyber Security and during that time worked on the requirements to be the first New York State community college to receive the distinction of being named by that the National Security Agency (NSA) and the Committee on National Security Systems (CNSS) as having the courseware that met the 4011 training cyber training standards “for Information Security Professionals, Senior System Managers, System Administrators, System Certifiers, and Risk Analysts responsible for the security oversight or management of critical networks.”  The program’s most recent recognition is as a Center for Academic Excellence in Cyber Defense 2-Year (CAE) as recognized by the NSA and DHS and I am the Director and Principal Investigator of the cyber center. RCC is the second NYS Community College to receive that recognition and I am very proud to be associated with this honor.

Teaching our cyber and computer students continues to be my passion and plan to continue as long as I can.

In the Spring and Summer of 2020, many of us were home due to physical closures of our schools and workplaces. We wanted to remain safe, but our social nature left us yearning to commune and commiserate with others during these exceptional and confusing times.

Many of us took to the outdoors. Public green spaces kept open were extremely popular. Hikers’ lots in our local Harriman State Park were overflowing. Whether walking around our neighborhoods or visiting a park, the outdoors were always open to us, giving our gregarious selves an outlet.

While these trips into nature may have been new for many, a growing body of research supports that visiting green spaces has positive biological impacts on us. Markers of physiological stress include heightened activity in the brain’s prefrontal cortex and higher levels of the hormone cortisol (Wheelock et al., 2016).  These levels tend to decline in individuals when in green spaces (Park et al., 2007; Thompson et al., 2016).

Needless to say, many of us experienced heightened stress in the Spring and Summer of 2020 and beyond.  Gathering in green spaces made sense not only because we could meet with others at a distance but doing so could help our health even if many were oblivious to that benefit.

Many aspects of our society are built upon our collective appreciation of nature and the environment. Locally, organizations like Keep Rockland Beautiful, Inc. bring together people who are diverse in age, cultural background, income, profession, political views, religion, and so much more. People who may not otherwise meet join together for dozens of KRB-organized litter cleanups. Perhaps some want to protect wildlife while others are interested in community service.   Regardless of people’s reasons, the environment is at the root of their communal efforts.

Best known for its mission of protecting birds, National Audubon Society, Inc. does attract a fair number of birders.  However, many join forces to support Audubon’s broader efforts of habitat conservation, environmental education, and environmental advocacy.

The health of the environment is something that impacts all of us. Though many have returned to their physical schools and workplaces, and those Harriman State Park hikers’ lots are emptier these days, those who enjoyed time together in green spaces will carry memories of them and of how those experiences in nature made them feel. Hopefully, these types of unions are not just a blip.  Hopefully, we will continue to come together in similar or other ways from a desire to contribute to environmental efforts, drawn by nature.

References Cited

Audubon. (n.d.). Retrieved April 7, 2022, from https://www.audubon.org/
Keep Rockland Beautiful. (1970, April 4). Retrieved April 7, 2022, from https://keeprocklandbeautiful.org/

Park, Tsunetsugu, Y., Kasetani, T., Hirano, H., Kagawa, T., Sato, M., & Miyazaki, Y. (2007). Physiological Effects of Shinrin-yoku (Taking in the Atmosphere of the Forest)—Using Salivary Cortisol and Cerebral Activity as Indicators. Journal of Physiological Anthropology, 26(2), 123–128. https://doi.org/10.2114/jpa2.26.123

Ward Thompson, Aspinall, P., Roe, J., Robertson, L., & Miller, D. (2016). Mitigating Stress and Supporting Health in Deprived Urban Communities: The Importance of Green Space and the Social Environment. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 13(4), 440–440. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph13040440

Wheelock, Harnett, N. G., Wood, K. H., Orem, T. R., Granger, D. A., Mrug, S., & Knight, D. C.(2016). Prefrontal Cortex Activity Is Associated with Biobehavioral Components of the Stress Response. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, 10, 583–583.
https://doi.org/10.3389/fnhum.2016.00583