By Staff
Meridian Community College graduates received their diplomas Monday night under the stars at Meridian High School's Ray Stadium.
Twenty graduates were recognized after the conferring of degrees as Circle of Excellence students, chosen on the basis of scholarship, citizenship, leadership and service. Those students were:
Toby Marshall Embrey, William Scott Henley, Alicia Dawn Morgan, Constance J. Beal, Krista Bates, Michelle Jean Conway Kimbrell, Katie Regina Brown Phillips, Maya Rache Edwards, Brenda Kay Rucker Forston, Virginia Dianne Jones Gill, Erica Lynne Winnie Huntley, Laura Jean Kerr, Matthew Frederick McCleskey, Doella L. Miller, Melissa Joy Moulds, Kymberly Dawn Peairs, Ronald Eric Pickard, Aaron Lyle Wallace, Daniel Wade Watson and Matthew Johnson Willis.
Three Circle of Excellence recipients Maya Edwards, Doella Miller and Daniel Watson were also named H.M. Ivy Scholars and will receive scholarships based on academic excellence, extra-curricular activities, financial need and faculty appraisals.
Veldore Young Heidelberg, assistant district attorney for the 10th Judicial District and member of the Mississippi State Board of Community and Junior Colleges, delivered the commencement address.
She encouraged students to continue to set goals, be persistent, give back to their communities and never stop striving for success.