DUBLIN – Two hundred and twenty four candidates for graduation will move their tassels from right to left as Bladen Community College awards diplomas to curriculum students on Tuesday evening, May 16. Likewise, 41 high school completion candidates will receive their high school credentials.
Over one-third of the curriculum candidates will receive associate degrees in the arts and sciences that will transfer into four-year universities. With the growth of the Career and College Promise Program, 19 high school students will graduate from BCC with two years of college credits before their graduation dates from their respective high schools.
Business technologies, public service technologies, and health sciences graduates also continue to increase at the community college, accounting for twenty-four percent of the graduate population.
The curriculum graduation address will be delivered by Robin Gary Cummings, M.D., Chancellor of the University of North Carolina at Pembroke. A native of Pembroke, Cummings received his undergraduate degree in zoology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and his medical degree from Duke University Medical School.
Kerry L. Shipman, Sr., champion of underrepresented communities and minorities, will be the graduation speaker for the high school completion class. A high school dropout, Shipman received his high school credential through the College Readiness program at Bladen Community College. This accomplishment poised Shipman to complete a bachelor’s degree in sociology at Shaw University in Raleigh and a master’s degree in public administration from the University of Phoenix. He is currently a second year law student at the Charleston School of Law where he serves as a Senator in the Student Bar Association.
The College Readiness graduation ceremony is at 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday, May 16. The Curriculum graduation follows at 7:30 p.m. Both events are in the college auditorium (building 9) on the Dublin campus. For more information about educational opportunities at BCC, call 910-879-5500.
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