Men must help the Bermuda College to reaffirm its connection to the community by enrolling as students or encouraging other men to pursue an education.

This was the message of new Bermuda College president Dr. Charles Green, who told Hamilton Rotarians yesterday that all Bermudians, particularly men, are being invited to share their future vision with College officials.

"We are going to have a men's meeting at the College where all men, employees and students of the College will get together and make sure their needs and goals are met," he said.

Dr. Green, the former interim president of Olive-Harvey College in Chicago and a US Army Colonel for 30 years, said he hoped more men on the Island would get involved with the College either academically or socially.

Dr. Green said many great people on the Island got their start at the Bermuda College and it is his aim to bring back more male students to bridge the numbers gap between men and women at the College.

"Of the 1,200 students at the Bermuda College, 400 are men. We want to increase that number so it is off the walls, so that the men of this Island are headed for great careers. We can not even afford to lose one," he told Rotarians.

An advocate of technical training programmes, Dr. Green said as a newcomer to Bermuda he needed community input to make sure the College was meeting local industry needs.

"Our technical programmes are going to have advisory committees to make sure we stay on track. We're going to ask you to provide that help for the future ? we're your community college. What I want you to remember is that you're our college. We do a good job but we want to do a better job. We need Bermuda to get behind us and direct us for the future."

Although he had originally planned to speak from a prepared speech on the themes of regrouping, renewal and retraining, Dr. Green put it aside and spoke freely about how he hoped the College could become a positive force for change and encouragement in the community.

"There's something for everyone at Bermuda College, former students of the College have not had a negative thing to say," he said. "This is your College and we need entire community input."

Dr. Green also pointed out that the College campus is becoming older and may need some renovations in the near future.

"We need to talk about the facility and its needs for the future," he added.

Dr. Green also said he would be seeking international accreditation for the College so that universities around the world have agreements with it.

In March, he said, the New England Schools and Colleges Accreditation team will visit to begin their assessment of the College.

And the men's meeting will be held at the Bermuda College on September 23. Contact the College at 236-9000 for more information.