Burlington County College Students to Graduate This Weekend

It’s once again time to hand out the caps and gowns.

Burlington County College will hold its 44th annual Commencement Ceremony Saturday, May 17, 10 a.m. on the Pemberton campus, 601 Pemberton Browns Mills Road.

There will be nearly 1,200 graduates and John E. Harmon Sr., president and CEO of the African American Chamber of Commerce of New Jersey and successful community college graduate, will serve as the Keynote Speaker.

This year’s class has 1,177 graduates ranging in age from 16 to 66 years old, with 49 of those graduates receiving two or more degrees or certificates. More than 70 percent of the graduating class earned a 3.0 GPA or above.

The majority of students, 308, will earn their degree in liberal arts and sciences. The second highest number of degrees earned, 110, is in business administration. This year’s graduating class also includes the first green degree graduates.

A nursing and allied health pinning ceremony will celebrate 140 graduates receiving degrees in dental hygiene, nursing, human services, diagnostic medical sonography, health information technology, and radiography, on Thursday, May 15 at 6 p.m. under the commencement tent at BCC's Pemberton campus. Anne Coyle, RN, BA, a neonatal intensive care nurse at Virtua in Voorhees will be the keynote speaker.

The diversity of the class shines in some of the student stories that will be highlighted during the commencement ceremony. One of those students, Tom Strube is one of 171 military graduates. He served in the Marines for eight years with three combat tours in Iraq. He also served twice in Afghanistan as a private contractor. Randa Aji, one of 61 international students, left Syria for the United States to seek safety from the escalating violence.

This year’s valedictorian, Xavier William Johnson, of Burlington Township, came to BCC as a NJ STARS student, and participated in BCC’s Undergraduate Research program the past two years studying the purification of polluted water and mathematics. He is graduating with highest honors and placed in the top 35 percent while competing against upperclassmen from four-year colleges at the New Jersey Undergraduate Mathematics Competition. 

Interim BCC President Dr. David I. Spang will present the Lindback Distinguished Teaching Award to a faculty member and outgoing Student Government Association President Joseph Hyland will announce the Professor of the Year during the ceremony.