Hawkeye Community College Mac's Place Café Celebrates Grand Opening

posted on Wednesday, September 25, 2019 in Investor Highlights

Hawkeye Community College celebrated the grand opening of Mac’s Place Café on Tuesday, September 24, with a program and ribbon cutting at the Van G. Miller Adult Learning Center, 120 Jefferson St, Waterloo.

Mac’s Place Café provides a learning lab for Hawkeye’s Hospitality Management program. Students in the program are trained for supervisor and management positions in hotels, restaurants, institutions, and clubs. Students learn customer service skills, inventory controls, products, marketing strategies, and point of sale systems. The café allows students to take the principles they learn in the classroom and put them into practice.

Hawkeye named Mac’s Place Café after R.J. McElroy, in recognition of the support from his trust, the R.J. McElroy Trust. For almost 40 years, Hawkeye has partnered with the R.J. McElroy Trust to remove barriers and allow individuals to gain an education.  The R.J. McElroy Trust has awarded more than $2 million dollars to fund a variety of programs including scholarships, private loan assistance, emergency funds for students facing short-term financial obstacles, the expansion of the Child Development Center on the main campus, and most recently construction of the Van G. Miller Adult Learning Center.

R.J. McElroy was an entrepreneur and pioneer in broadcasting. He founded the Black Hawk Broadcasting Company, which is recognized for creating KWWL radio and later KWWL TV. A trust was established in his name after his passing to be used for the educational benefit of deserving young people in Northeast Iowa. 

Mac’s Place Café is open Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays from 7:30 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. and Tuesdays and Thursdays from 7:30 a.m. to 7:00 p.m.

Article and photos from Hawkeye Community College Public Relations Coordinator, Jason Staker