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DURHAM -- More than 800 students at Durham Technical Community College will get degrees, diplomas and certificates Wednesday at the school's graduation at the Durham Performing Arts Center.
Peace Corps Director Aaron Williams will deliver the commencement address. Ceremonies begin at 4:30 p.m.
More than 600 associate degrees, diplomas and certificates will be awarded to students; more than 200 general equivalency diplomas (GEDs) and 35 adult high school graduates also will receive diplomas.
In its curriculum programs, Durham Tech currently serves 715 international students representing 95 countries, and many of those will be graduating Wednesday, according to college spokeswoman Nell Yates.
Williams was sworn in as the 18th director of the Peace Corps on Aug. 24, 2009.
Nominated by President Obama and confirmed by the U.S. Senate on Aug. 7, 2009, Williams is the fourth director in the Peace Corps' history to have served as a Peace Corps volunteer.
He has served as vice president for International Business Development for Research Triangle Institute International, and was a Peace Corps volunteer in the Dominican Republic from 1967 to 1970.
He worked as coordinator of minority recruitment and the project evaluation officer for the Peace Corps in his hometown of Chicago from 1970 to 1971.
Wednesday's graduation will include the invocation by the Rev. Lori Pistor of Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) and Mary Ann Peter, chairwoman of the Durham Tech Board of Trustees. Also speaking will be the college's president, William Ingram, and Briant Davis, student senate president.
Jim Fleming, coordinator of the new Durham Tech Alumni Association, will welcome the graduates into the organization.
