Medgar Evers 39th Commencement Excercises

Medgar Evers College President Dr. William L. Pollard will deliver the keynote address before more than 1,000 degree candidates and a large audience of family, friends, faculty, staff, community supporters and elected officials.

[Education: Graduations]

On Saturday, June 5, Medgar Evers College, CUNY shall celebrate its Thirty-Ninth Annual Commencement Exercises at
10 a.m. in the College Amphitheater at 1650 Bedford Avenue, Brooklyn 11225.

The Class of 2010 commencement theme, “Create and Achieve Success, Reach for the Stars,” honors a graduating class of 1,077, where 308 students – nearly 30 percent – are graduating with honors. Notable grads include: valedictorian Sophia Smart (BS, Business), associate scholar Owen Patrick (AS, Computer Science), and flag bearers Shaun Regis (BS, Accounting), Blanche Mackey (BA, English), Ionie Skyers-Gilchrist (BSN);and Ricardo Brisard (CUNY BA/BS).

Medgar Evers College President Dr. William L. Pollard will deliver the keynote address before more than 1,000 degree candidates and a large audience of family, friends, faculty, staff, community supporters and elected officials.  Dr. Pollard is the third fully appointed president of Medgar Evers College.

During his tenure, he has consistently engaged students, met with community leaders, and worked with faculty, staff, and alumni in his efforts to transform the College and position it in a manner that builds upon its mission. In the upcoming year, he will ensure implementation of short and long range strategic plans that increase student space on campus, enhance the physical plant, promote development of co-curricular vehicles which foster academic excellence, and bolster the College’s graduation and retention rates, amongst other goals.

Prior to joining Medgar Evers College, Dr. Pollard served as vice president for the Office of Access and the Advancement of Public Black Colleges and Universities for the National Association for State Universities and Land Grant Colleges.  From 2002 to 2007, he served as president of the University of the District of Columbia.  Other noteworthy achievements include his founding and serving as dean of two collegiate programs: the Syracuse University College of Human Services and Health Professions, and the Grambling State University School of Social Work.

Dr. Pollard’s numerous awards and honors include the Social Worker of the Year Award from the National Association of Social Workers, recognition as co-founder of the Syracuse Onondaga Dialogue on Race, and the Citizen of the Year Award from Temple Adath Yeshurun along with Hillary Clinton. For his efforts at Medgar Evers, he has already been honored by The Black Star News during the newspaper’s 2009 Annual Awards Dinner, with other honorees such as CNN’s Soledad O’Brien and Rep. Maxine Waters.

He received his doctorate in policy and planning from the University of Chicago School of Social Administration where dissertation committee members included the late John Hope Franklin, an educator and the first African-American department chair at a major college.

http://www.mec.cuny.edu

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