The Guy With The Bison Tattoo

You may have seen Marc Creegan in the classroom teaching. Perhaps you remember meeting him while you were participating in a mock interview on campus. Maybe you recognize him in his signature crocheted bison hat at a hockey game. You might have seen him at a Men of Distinction event. Or maybe it’s the distinctive triple bison tattoo on his arm.

Point is, you probably recognize Creegan from your time at Nichols College.

“Nichols, in a way, has always been home. There’s something special about the campus for me,” said Creegan, who is an adjunct faculty for Nichols Graduate and Professional Studies, faculty advisor for Men of Distinction, a Bison sports fan, and a three-time Nichols alumnus, or “triple Bison.”

He has made Nichols College part of his life and it’s fitting given he’s been a Bison from an early age. Creegan has been around Nichols since 1979, when his father took a teaching position at the college. His family moved to the campus that year and in the following three years the Creegan clan stuck around, moving to different parts on campus each year.

He said his family lived in Budleigh, in Daniels, and in one of the houses near campus.

“I grew up with the campus, I lived on campus. I remember all the dorms that used to be standing where the tennis courts are,” he said.

After his father’s time at Nichols Creegan’s family stayed in the area, eventually moving to Webster. And while he was no longer living at Nichols, Creegan’s connection with the college continued to grow, at one point doing a radio show at the college’s radio station WNRC while in high school.

Before college became a concern

For a period though, Creegan said college wasn’t a part of his life.

“It didn’t work out my first go-around at college,” Creegan said of his initial exposure to higher education after high school.

But after working “a couple dead-end jobs” Creegan found a job in an industry he actually enjoyed: semiconductors. The problem was that while he enjoyed the work he realized he needed to do more than he was doing as a line operator at a local semiconductor company.

“I hit 30, had a wife, a house, a mortgage. And I said I need to do something to turn this job into a career, so I went back to school,” Creegan said.

Creegan started at Quinsigamond Community College, one of Nichols College’s partner schools, and while there he heard about a transfer program from QCC to Nichols College.

“What’s really interesting is right away when I saw the Nichols logo I knew what it was,” Creegan said.

Back to the start

At Nichols, Creegan started with a bachelor’s degree, but it didn’t stop there. Eventually, after more than a decade, Creegan made it to a dual master’s degree.

“It took me 12 years of night school to get from a few college credits that needed to be dusted off all the way to my MBA and MSOL,” he said.

Now, Creegan is a manager at the company he works for and his education at Nichols is part of why.

“Not only are you very well-prepared at Nichols to be a manager because of the facts, figures, and the data that you learn, but you also learn the analytical skills, the leadership skills, to lead a team,” he said.

Becoming a Bison

But not only did Creegan’s education lead to promotions – it led to him being in front of a class instead of just in it.

“Towards the end of my time as a student I really started thinking I was going to miss being in the classroom because of the networking with all the different people within the vast array of industries and points of view,” Creegan said.

He expressed these feelings to administrators at Nichols, which caught the attention of Kerry Calnan, then the Executive Director of Graduate and Professional Studies at Nichols. Creegan said Calnan asked Creegan to interview with her. After that, Calnan requested Creegan stay with GPS as an adjunct faculty member.

Now Creegan teaches two classes each year and is the leadfaculty member for one of Nichols College’s corporate partnerships. He even sometimes contributes at the undergraduate level as an occasional mock interviewer for students getting ready to enter the workforce and guest lecturing.

Oh, and then there’s the sports teams. Creegan said he makes it to “at least one or two” games or matches of the many athletic teams at Nichols each year. And he takes particular pride in the hockey teams.

“You’ll find me at every hockey game, home or road,” he said. “That’s my drug of choice.”

Men of Distinction

What Creegan is the most proud of though, is his work with the Men of Distinction at Nichols. It started in the fall of 2018 after Creegan an article on the Nichols College webpage about James Singletary from the Men of Distinction. After reading it, Creegan knew he had to reach out to Singletary.

They agreed to meet and talked over coffees one night before class and Singletary asked if Creegan would consider being a mentor for the Men of Distinction.

“Without hesitation I accepted,” Creegan said.

Creegan has been an active part of the group since, from mentorship to now being the group’s faculty advisor.

But even though he’s been a mentor and advisor to the group, Creegan insists the Men of Distinction are the ones teaching him.

“I tell James [Singletary] all the time it’s the MOD that mentor me, not the other way around,” Creegan said.

“They are so mature and motivated. I was a mess at their age. The MOD are a family and having them accept me into the fold is humbling. I’m extremely proud of them.”

About Nichols College

Within a supportive community, Nichols College transforms today’s students into tomorrow’s leaders through a dynamic, career-focused business and professional education.

Media Contacts

Denise Kelley
Writer/Editor
denise.kelley@nichols.edu
508-213-2219