City Colleges of Chicago Holds District-Wide Graduation Ceremony; Mayor Daley Delivers Keynote Speech

CHICAGO, May 11, 2011 /PRNewswire/ --

For the first time in City Colleges of Chicago history, all seven City Colleges will come together to honor graduating students in a district-wide ceremony.  

The graduation comes during City Colleges' centennial celebration, marking 100 years since CCC's inception as Chicago's "People's College" in 1911.  

In recognition of his career-long support of education in Chicago, the Honorable Richard M. Daley will deliver the keynote address at the ceremony.  

All City Colleges students completing their Associate degree in the last year were eligible to participate in the commencement ceremony.  More than 1,600 students will walk across the stage; that number includes 702 honor students and 230 members of Phi Theta Kappa (the national honor society of 2-year colleges).  All seven valedictorians from each of the colleges will also be present.

"We are very proud of our students who, through hard work and persistence, have reached this major milestone," said Chancellor Cheryl L. Hyman.  "We are working to reinvent the City Colleges of Chicago so that all of our students have the chance to complete their education and succeed in life."

"City Colleges made me who I am, and gave me the fundamental foundation for what I am to become," said Brittany Logan, this year's valedictorian of Wilbur Wright College.  After graduation, Logan will transfer to Illinois Institute of Technology and complete a Bachelor's program in biochemistry.  

About City Colleges of Chicago

The City Colleges of Chicago (CCC), District 508, is the largest community college system in Illinois and one of the largest in the nation, with 5,800 faculty and staff serving 120,000 students at seven campuses and thirteen satellite sites city-wide.  The City Colleges of Chicago is in the midst of a Reinvention, launched by Chancellor Cheryl Hyman shortly after her appointment by Mayor Richard M. Daley in March 2010.  Reinvention is a collaborative effort to review and revise CCC programs and practices to ensure students leave CCC college-ready, career-ready and prepared to pursue their life's goals.

CCC includes seven colleges: Richard J. Daley College, Kennedy-King College, Malcolm X College, Olive-Harvey College, Harry S Truman College, Harold Washington College and Wilbur Wright College.  The system also oversees: the Washburne Trade School, the French Pastry School, two restaurants, five Child Development Centers, the Center for Distance Learning, the Workforce Institute, the public broadcast station WYCC-TV Channel 20 and radio station WKKC-FM 89.3FM.  For more information about City Colleges of Chicago, call: (773) COLLEGE or visit www.reinventingccc.org.

SOURCE City Colleges of Chicago