Area native to speak at BPC graduation May 10

MOUNT VERNON - Two-hundred twenty-seven Brewton-Parker College students will receive their diplomas Saturday, May 10, during commencement exercises in the Student Activities Center.

The ceremony celebrating the academic accomplishments of this year's graduating class begins at 10 a.m.

Heddye Brinson Ducree, an area native who has served at Princeton University since 1992, will provide the keynote commencement address. Ducree's family has a long history in Montgomery County and she maintains a home in Dublin.

Since 1994, Ducree has served as director for the Carl A. Fields Center for Equality and Cultural Understanding at Princeton. She joined the Princeton staff in 1992 as director of Community House, a program of student community service volunteer programs and activities.

Ducree's career includes nine years as executive director of Gateway East Health Services, Inc., in East St. Louis, Ill., and eight total years as an elementary school teacher in Detroit, Mich., and Savannah.

Ducree's education includes a bachelor of science degree in elementary education from Savannah State College in 1975 and a master of science degree in elementary education from Armstrong State College in Savannah in 1981.

Brewton-Parker will present 229 diplomas to graduates during Saturday's ceremony, with one student receiving two degrees.

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