Delaware Technical Community College holds commencement
Delaware Technical Community College, Owens Campus in Georgetown held its annual commencement May 15.
Besides awarding 650 academic awards and the Paul K. Weatherly Award, a keynote address from an alumni was presented and the veterans in the audience were honored.
Blanche Williams Baker was presented with the Paul K. Weatherly Award. The award is named after Del Tech's first president and honors individuals for outstanding contributions to Del Tech. In 1990, Williams Baker - daughter of U.S. Sen. John J. Williams, who served from 1947-70 - donated a residence that became the college's off-campus conference center. In 2007, Williams Baker and her late husband Ray presented the college with another gift: an endowment of nearly 1,000 acres of land, with net proceeds of the sale to benefit Del Tech and students.
Baltimore Orioles head groundskeeper and Del Tech Turf Management graduate Nicole Sherry was the commencement speaker. Sherry is one of only two female head groundskeepers in Major League Baseball. In her address Sherry said, "You all received a high school diploma, but you decided that wasn't enough for you. Today you are receiving your college diploma. It is a great accomplishment, and you should be very proud. You leave here today having been given the knowledge and the skills to go out and take on the world. But if you think your education is complete, then you are in trouble. You have to continuously learn, because the environment that is around you is constantly changing. The more you learn, the better you become. Don't ever stop learning."
Facts of the class of 2018 are: 218 graduated with academic excellence; 62 students graduated summa cum laude; 12 graduates obtained a perfect 4.0 grade point average; 64 percent of the graduates were women, and minorities account for 30 percent of the class; graduate age spans 53 years, from a 19-year-old communications major to a 72-year-old accounting major; average graduate age was 28; and 41 graduates were military veterans.
