Release

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Staff Contact:

Administrative Assistant to the President

for Public Relations & Minority Concerns

DCC SETS 17th ANNUAL ALLIANCE FOR

EXCELLENCE AWARDS PROGRAM

DANVILLE, Va., May 1, 2003 -- The Seventeenth Annual Academic Excellence Awards Program for Minority Students, sponsored by Danville Community College's Alliance For Excellence Program, will be held Thursday, May 15, at 7:00 p.m., at the Cherrystone Missionary Baptist Association Center in Ringgold. The keynote speaker will be Dr. Thomas Johnson, Pastor, Bethel Baptist Church and Adjunct Professor at DCC.

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

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 -- Mr. Ralph Warren, Interim Superintendent, Danville Public Schools; Mr. Dennis Witt, Superintendent, Halifax County Public Schools; and Dr. Jerry Webb, Superintendent, Pittsylvania County Public Schools. Dr. B. Carlyle Ramsey, DCC President, Dr. Betty Jo Foster, Vice President of Academic and Student Services, and Mrs. Frances H. Carter, Assistant Professor of Administrative Support Technology, will present awards to the DCC honorees.

Alliance for Excellence is a partnership between Danville Community College and area African-American churches to foster higher education awareness. For more information on the awards program, contact Paula Coleman, Project Coordinator, DCC Alliance For Excellence, at (434) 797-8516, or 1-800-560-4291, ext. 8516.