For immediate release — May 1, 2009

(DALLAS) — Hundreds of Dallas County Community College District students are crossing the stage during commencement ceremonies that begin on Sunday, May 3, and conclude by mid-month. Graduates from DCCCD's seven individually accredited colleges — Brookhaven, Cedar Valley, Eastfield, El Centro, Mountain View, North Lake and Richland — will hear a variety of keynote speakers and receive greetings delivered by members of the district's board of trustees. The schedule is listed below by date order.

El Centro College
Sunday, May 3, 2009 – 3 p.m., Fair Park Music Hall. The keynote speaker was Catherine Carolan, coordinator of ECC’s echocardiology technology program and 2008-2009 Minnie Stevens Piper Professor.

Richland College
Friday and Saturday, May 8 and 9 – 7:30 p.m., both evenings in the large gymnasium in Guadalupe Hall. Richland faculty member Fred Newbury, recipient of the RLC 2009 Full-Time Faculty Excellence in Teaching Award, will deliver the keynote address during both ceremonies.

North Lake College
Saturday, May 9 – 10 a.m., Alfred J. Loos Field House, 3815 Spring Valley Road, Addison.
Professor Paul Hunter, NLC English faculty member, will be the keynote speaker.

Brookhaven College
Thursday, May 14 – 7 p.m., Alfred J. Loos Field House, 3815 Spring Valley Road, Addison.
Keynote speakers will be Dr. John Neal, BHC professor of journalism, and his former student, Joy Dickinson Tipping, who is a writer and an editor.

Cedar Valley College
Thursday, May 14 – 7 p.m., Lancaster High School, 200 E. Wintergreen Road, Lancaster. Dr. Stephen Mansfield, president and CEO of Methodist Health System, will deliver the commencement address.

Eastfield College
Thursday, May 14 – 7:30 p.m., Mesquite Convention Center and Exhibit Hall, 1700 Rodeo Drive, Mesquite. Margo Ramirez Keyes, DCCCD Foundation board member, is the keynote speaker. Mrs. Keyes and her husband, Jim, co-founded Education Is Freedom, and Mr. Keyes is former CEO of 7-Eleven Inc. and current CEO of Blockbuster Inc.

Mountain View College
Thursday, May 14 – 7 p.m., Jesse Owens Memorial Complex, 9191 S. Polk St., Dallas. Gloria Campos, WFAA-TV news anchor for the 6 and 10 p.m. broadcasts, will be the commencement speaker.

For more information, contact Ann Hatch in the DCCCD office of public and governmental affairs at (214) 378-1819.

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Press contact: Ann Hatch
214-860-2478; ahatch@dcccd.edu
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