FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

DCC SETS 19TH ANNUAL

ALLIANCE FOR EXCELLENCE AWARDS

            DANVILLE, VA, May 2, 2005 – The 19th Annual Academic Excellence Awards Program for Minority Students, sponsored by the Danville Community College Alliance For Excellence Program, will be held Thursday, May 12, at 7:00 p.m., at the Cherrystone Missionary Baptist Association Center in Ringgold. The keynote speaker will be Calvin Yarbrough of Richmond, founder of Students Reaching Students in Richmond.

            The awards program recognizes the academic achievements of high school seniors from Danville, Halifax County and Pittsylvania County, in addition to the academic achievers at DCC.

            The program includes the presentation of plaques to six DCC students for the highest academic averages. The plaques are presented in memory of well-known community leaders- Dr. Bishop Merritt, Mr. James Griffin Hughes, and Mrs. Addie Luck Williams all of Danville; Mrs. Rebecca Mullins of Pittsylvania County; and Bishop William Y. Bell and Dr. Leon V. Ragland of South Boston.

            In addition, the Rev. Doyle J. Thomas Award, named in memory of the former Danville City Councilman and community leader, will be presented to a student for outstanding academic achievement.

            The awards to high school students will be presented by the respective school superintendents—Dr. Sue Davis, Danville Public Schools;  Paul Stapleton, Halifax County Public Schools; and James McDaniel, Pittsylvania County Public Schools. DCC President Dr. B. Carlyle Ramsey and other administrators will present awards to the DCC honorees.

            Alliance for Excellence is a partnership between Danville Community College and area churches to foster higher education awareness. For more information on the awards program, contact Bethann West James, Project Coordinator, DCC Alliance For Excellence, at 434.797.3001, or by email at bjames@dcc.vccs.edu.