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Commencement activities to feature honorees
Commencement activities will be held at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, May 13 in the Harold Sheffer Music Hall, Potter Center. More than 600 graduates are eligible to participate in the activities.
Each year, JCC honors outstanding alumni and citizens with several awards given at commencement. This year, the winner of the Dr. Ethelene Jones Crockett Distinguished Alumni Award will be Thomas Draper. Draper worked with A.G. Edwards securities company, and later Wachovia Securities, before retirement. In the community, Draper has served on the Board of Directors of the Country Club of Jackson, St. Paul’s Episcopal Church vestry, Dahlem Environmental Center, and the Ella Sharp Museum.
Three individuals are being honored with Distinguished Service Awards from JCC, Dr. Harish Rawal, Tony Dungy and Dennis DaPra. Rawal is a local neurosurgeon who, along with his wife Sudha, has generously contributed $1 million to JCC’s new Center for Health Professions in Justin Whiting Hall, as well as causes both here in Jackson and in his native India. Dungy is the retired Super Bowl-winning coach of the NFL’s Indianapolis Colts, active in numerous charitable organizations and is also a New York Times bestselling author. DaPra is retired from Consumers Energy and served the JCC Board of Trustees for 11 years, and has also been active in United Way of Jackson County, Kiwanis Club and Enterprise Group of Jackson.
Anton Allen of Jackson will receive the George E. Potter Outstanding Student Award. Allen, who is studying business administration, is a tutor on campus and member of the Men of Merit.
Also participating in the activities will be the JCC Board of Trustees, faculty and administration, Jackson Community Concert Band and Jackson Community College Concert Choir. Overflow seating will be available in the Michael Baughman Theatre.
