More than 1,700 students to graduate from Delaware County Community College
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Anthony Twyman
May 8, 2013 Assistant to the President for Communications
610-325-2816
atwyman1@dccc.edu
(Delaware and Chester Counties, PA)—More than 1,700 students will receive degrees and certificates from Delaware County Community College in a Commencement ceremony that will be held at 10:30 a.m., Thursday, May 23, at the Pavilion at Villanova University. The 2013 class is one of the largest in the College’s history.
Among those graduating is Denise (Russo) Logsdon, 45, of Springfield, who will walk despite having had a major operation in April for cancer of her thyroid which left her vocal chords damaged and her right ear and portions of her scalp, neck, jaw and collarbone paralyzed. A mother of four children, Logsdon will receive an Associate of Science degree. She plans to transfer to the University of Pennsylvania, where she will study Human Rights and Social Justice. She hopes to one day pursue her Doctorate degree in Justice, Law and Policy and become a human rights advocate and policy scholar.
While at the College, Logsdon, who previously resided in Chadds Ford until a few months ago, was president of the College’s Student Government Association; vice president of the College’s chapter of the Phi Theta Kappa international honor society; chair of the College’s Thanksgiving Food Drive to benefit the homeless; co-chair of the Hurricane Sandy Relief Drive; chair of the Campus’ Thirst Project, which helps build wells for clean drinking water in sub-Sahara Africa; and chair of the Adopt-a-Highway program.
“Denise pours herself into major projects designed to serve fellow human beings,” said one of Logsdon’s instructors. Another instructor described Logsdon, a Cardinal O’Hara High School graduate, as having “relentless drive, focus and natural insight and intelligence.”
Logsdon also was one of three students at the College recognized in April by the Phi Theta Kappa international honor society of two-year colleges and the Pennsylvania Commission for Community Colleges for her academic achievements and her volunteerism in the community. The three Delaware County Community College students were among 45 scholars from Pennsylvania’s 14 community colleges to be honored at a banquet at the Hilton Harrisburg Hotel. The scholars also were named to the All-Pennsylvania Academic Team, which requires students to maintain at least a 3.5 grade point average. All-PA scholars are eligible to receive a full-tuition scholarship to one of the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education’s 14 universities. Delaware County Community College’s two other All-PA scholars were Jordyn Bennett of Coatesville and Dimitri Wevers of Sharon Hill.
Dimitri Wevers, 22, is pursuing an Associate of Science degree and plans to transfer to a four-year school, where he wants to major in Business Administration. He hopes to pursue his master’s degree and become a financial analyst. A native of Belgium, whose family immigrated to Belgium from Haiti, Wevers is a Business Administration major who worked part-time for two years while attending school. He was awarded the Phi Theta Kappa’s Alpha Tau Epsilon chapter’s distinguished member award this year and he has participated in the LUNGevity Foundation’s Breathe Deep Philadelphia lung cancer walk in Philadelphia and the College’s Thanksgiving Food Drive. He also shared his global experiences with students at the College’s multi-cultural festival, answering questions and sharing about living and having studied in Belgium. One of Wevers’ instructors described him as having a “wonderful sense of academic motivation.” Another instructor said he is “always willing to help other students when needed.”
Jordyn Bennett, 21, is pursuing an Associate of Arts degree and wants to transfer to a four-year school to study nutrition and dietetics. She one day hopes to become a Registered Dietician. Despite attending school full-time at the College’s Downingtown Campus and Exton Center, Bennett finds time to advocate for people to donate blood to the American Red Cross. She also works part-time. Bennett’s former English professor described her as quick to offer help to classmates and a strong writer who displays a “genuine concern for building intellectual community on our campus outside of class.”
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