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RoxBURY Community College ^ x// Jo \^\ (2^^36th Annual ommencement /^^^ May Friday, 20, 2011 One O'clock P.M. Reggie Lewis Track and Athletic Center The National Anthem Oh, say, can you see by the dawn's early Ught, What so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last gleaming? Whose broad stripes and bright stars thru the perilousfight, O'er the ramparts we watched, were so gallantly streaming? And the rockets' red glare, the bombs bursting in air, Gave proofthrough the night that ourflag was still there. Oh say, does that star-spangled banner yet wave O'er the land ofthefi^ee and the home ofthe brave? Francis Scott Key 1779 - 1843 Every Voice and Sing Lift Lift every voice and sing, till earth and heaven ring. Ring with the harmonies ofliberty; Let our rejoicing rise, high as the list'ning skies. Let is resound loud as the rolling sea. Sing a songfull ofthefaith that the darkpast has taught us, Sing a songfull ofthe hope that the present has brought us; Facing the rising sun ofour new day begun. Let us march on till victory is won. James Weldon Johnson 1871 - 1938 rogram Prelude Processional The audience is requested to remain seated during theprocessionalfor students andfaculty. Grafton Job Corps Color Guard willpost the colors. National Anthem Ms. Katani Sumner Lift Every Voice and Sing Led by Mr. Alonzo Harris Students' Greetings from Around the World Greetings From the President Dr. TerrenceA. Gomes ofMCCEO Special Recognition to William (Bill) Hart, Executive Director Greetings From the Commissioner ofthe Massachusetts Department ofHigher Education Dr. RichardM. Freeland, Commissioner ofMassachusetts Department of Higher Education Greetings From the Alumni Ms. Mayra Welsh, President ofRCCAlumni Musical Selection Ms. Katani Sumner Introduction of Community Service Recipient Dr. Alane K. Shanks, Vice President ofAdministration and Finance Community Service Award Dr. Keith D. Crawford Introduction ofthe Valedictorian Dr. Brenda W. Mercomes, Vice President ofAcademicAffairs Valedictorian Ms. Brooke Tyree Lynch Introduction ofthe Commencement Speaker Dr. Stephanie C. Janey, Vice President ofEnrollmentManagement and StudentAffairs Commencement Address Andrea J. Cabral, Esq., Suffolk County Sheriff Musical Selection Ms. Katani Sumner Conferring ofDegrees and Certificates Authorization ofthe Board ofTrustees Ms. Michele Courton Brown, Chair, Board ofTrustees Dr. TerrenceA. Gomes, President Introduction of Degree and Certificate Candidates Presided by Dr. Brenda W. Mercomes, Vice President ofAcademicAffairs Dr. Nancy Teel, Dean, LiberalArts and Professional Studies introduces CandidatesforAssociate ofArts Degree & Dr. Kyrsis R. Rodriguez, Interim Dean, Science, Technology, Engineering Math introduces CandidatesforAssociate ofScience Degree Dr. Gloria Cater, Dean ofHealth Sciences introduces Candidatesfor Certificates with specification Presentation ofDegrees and Certificates to the Students Ms. Michele Courton Brown, Chair, Board ofTrustees Dr. TerrenceA. Gomes, President Presided by Dr. Brenda W. Mercomes, Vice President ofAcademicAffairs President's Charge to the Graduating Class of 2011 Dr. TerrenceA. Gomes, President Recessional The audience is requested to remain seated during the recessional and is invited immediately after the ceremony to a reception in the Reggie Lewis Track andAthletic Center Gymnasium. ^3<^^ssage from the President Gomes Dr. Terrence A. Today is a landmark in the chosen path foryourhves. Beyond this landmark, or signpost, awaits a world around you that is real and exciting. But this is not just the end; think of today as the beginning of new opportunities, experiences and growth. I would like for you to remember today, notjust the moment, but the years that have led to this moment. Remember the days spent together in class, the hard work and sacrifices endured, and the friendships that have been built along the way. Education offers opportunities for changing how we choose to live, how we choose to educate, and how we choose to govern ourselves for future generations to come. Please grasp the opportunities when they arise, for therein, lies the key to your future and the future of all our communities. I am very proud of you and your accomplishments. Your graduation will help pave the way as you travel the road to greater success, both in college and beyond. You will be the leaders of tomorrow and with the education you nowhave and will seek further, you will reach new heights and achieve your dreams. My heartiest congratulations to the Class of 2011. I wish each of you the very best and much success in the future. Sincerely, Dr. Terrence A. Gomes President ^jOTimencement Speaker Suffolk County Sheriff, Andrea J. Cabral, Esq. Andrea J. Cabral, Esq. was sworn in on November 29, 2002 as the 30th SheriffofSuffolk County, Massachusetts. She is the first female sheriff in the Commonwealth's history. Originally appointed by former Governor Jane Swift, she was elected to a full term in 2004 and re-elected in 2010. She brings an extensive legal background and a commitment to public safety to her position. SheriffCabral is responsible forthe operation ofthe House of Correction, the Suffolk County Jail and the Civil Process Division. The Suffolk County Sheriffs Department is the largest sheriffs department in the Northeast andthe 30th largest in the United States. It has over 1000 employees, including executive managers, corrections officers, investigators, educators, health care providers, caseworkers and administrative staff, whose primary responsibilityis to provide safe care, custody, control and rehabilitative support for approximately 2,700 offenders, daily. The average operating budget for the Department is $96 million. SheriffCabral is a member ofthe Massachusetts Sheriffs' Association. Following - a two-year term as Vice President, she served as its President from 2008 2009. Sheriff Cabral's career in public service spans 24 years. She began her legal career in 1986 as a staff attorney in the Suffolk County Sheriffs Department at the Charles Street Jail, preparing and arguing motions for bail reduction in the Suffolk Superior Court. Subsequently, she served as an assistant district attorney in both the District and Superior Courts in the Middlesex County District Attorney's Office from 1987-1991. From 1991-1993, Sheriff Cabral was an Assistant Attorney General, where she worked in the Torts Division of the Government Bureau and the Civil Rights Division of the Public Protection Bureau. Sheriff Cabral then began work at the Suffolk County District Attorney's Office in 1993 under District Attorney, Ralph C. Martin III. From 1993-1994, she was director ofthe Roxbury District Court Family Violence Project. As director, she prosecuted domestic violence cases (including the county's first stalking case) and helped to establish new administrative policies and procedures for the processing of such cases in the Roxbury District Court. In March 1994, Sheriff Cabral became Chief of the DomesticViolence Unit where she supervised and trained district and superior court staffin the preparation and prosecution ofmajor domesticviolence felony cases. She also indicted and prosecuted major domesticviolence felony cases in Suffolk Superior Court. In 1998, SheriffCabralwas promotedto ChiefofDistrict Courts and Community Prosecutions. In this position, she developed district court policies, staffsupervision and evaluation tools, training curricula and case management practices in Suffolk County's eight district courts and the Boston Municipal Court. Sheriff Cabral also oversaw the staffing and supervision of all district court community prosecutions programs, which included the Safe Neighborhood Initiatives and Prosecutor in Police Stations (PIPS) Programs. SheriffCabral's publishedworks include: Obtaining, Enforcing andDefending Ch.209ARestraining Orders inMassachusetts and co-authorship ofthe article. Same GenderDomestic Violence: Strategiesfor Change in Creating Courtroom Accessibility. In addition to receiving numerous awards and honors throughout the years, in 2007, SheriffCabralwas named an Eisenhower Fellow andtraveledtoAustralia for a month-long study oftheir criminaljustice system. She is on the Board of the Mass Mentoring Partnership and serves on the National Re-entry Resource Center's Advisory Committee. In 2010, SheriffCabral was one of 18 experts appointed to the Office ofJustice Programs' ScienceAdvisoryBoard (SAB) bythe United States AttorneyGeneral, Eric Holder. The SAB was created to bridge the gap between research and practice in the criminaljustice fields. It provides an extra-agency reviewofand recommendations for Office ofJustice Programs' research, statistics, and grant programs, and ensures that programs and activities are scientificallysound and pertinent to policymakers and practitioners. Sheriff Cabral is a graduate of Boston College and Suffolk University Law School. ^^mmunity Award Service Recipient Keith Dwain Crawford, Ph.D., M.D. Dr. Keith Dwain Crawford is a graduate of Prairie A&M View University, a Historically Black University in MD Texas. He received his from the University of Texas (Houston) and Ph.D. from Harvard University. After the completion of his post-doctoral training, he joined the staff of Brigham and Women's Hospital to pursue a research program in Osteoimmunology and Regenerative Medicine. In 2007, Dr. Crawford's laboratory discovered a new adult stem cell, the "early lineage adult" stem cell or ELA cells, which has the ability to differentiate into a wide variety oftissues. His latest research focuses on improving our understanding ofosteoarthritis in the elderly, stress fractures in female athletes, and the development ofELA cell- based therapeutics for the acceleration offracture healing. He is the director of the Department of Molecular Orthopedics at Brigham and Women's Hospital. His laboratory discovered a novel newstem cell which is capable ofregenerating injured tissue. His team is actively researching the properties of these cells. Recently, a regenerative therapeutic procedure was created to enhance bone healing and is presently being used to treat patients. In addition to his research career. Dr. Crawford spends time mentoring large numbers ofstudents. To increase the number ofunderrepresented students in the Life Sciences, he serves as the Director of the STARS program at Brigham and Women's Hospital and scientific advisor to the VRIP and SCRIP Summer Programs at Harvard Medical School. Dr. Crawford's volunteer work focuses on providing the underserved and underprivileged with opportunities that they may not otherwise have, including education, employment and social networking. The development of the Life Sciences Institute (LSI) at Roxbury Community College is where he is currently centering his attention while simultaneously providing internships for Roxbury Community College students in his research lab at Brigham and Women's Hospital. ^_>^^isical Selection Katani Sumner Katani Sumner did what was expected of a young, bright and gifted Brown University graduate; she became an executive in a large well-known corporation. In fact, she became the first African American New England Unit Manager in the history of this corporation. Despite her successes, deep down inside, Katani felt that her most precious gift was the gift of song. Everyone who hears Katani experiences her undeniable talents, vitality, confidence and intelligence. Even with a Master's degree from Harvard, she still yields to the call within to spread the good news. Katani's talents and experiences in singing are far reaching, including Gospel, Jazz, R&B, and theatrical productions. She has been a featured performer as well as a producer, director and vocal arranger. Katani is perhaps best known as the "Inspirational MC" for ten years at the Original House of Blues' Sunday Gospel Brunch in Harvard Square, where she was also a featured performer. Katani was most recently seen as the host ofthe Sunday Gospel Brunch at the new House ofBlues in the Fenway, as the lead femalevocalist forthe Manhattan Touch band, singing The National Anthem at a Celtic's game and as featured vocalist at Symphony Hall for Gospel Night at the Pops. 8