Bergen Community College

NOTE: Complete listing of graduates, sorted by hometown, is available on our Web site at http://www.bergen.edu/pr/commencement.pdf. This listing is also available as an attachment by request.

The Honorable Pam B. Jackman Brown
Will Deliver the Commencement Address
At Bergen Community College’s 36th Commencement Exercises
Friday, May 20, 2005
Teaneck Resident, Guillermo de Veyga is Valedictorian

The Honorable Pamela Jackman Brown -- a community college graduate and New York’s only Guyanese Judge -- will deliver the Commencement Address at Bergen Community College’s 36th Commencement, Friday, May 20, at 3:00 p.m., outdoors on the Paramus campus. Her address, and proceedings of the Commencement Exercises, will be simultaneously interpreted in sign language, for the benefit of hearing-impaired graduates and guests, and will be Web cast live to a worldwide audience at http://www.bergen.edu/commencement.ram, for the benefit of students with families all over the globe.

Dr. Judith K. Winn, President of Bergen Community College, will preside. Greetings will be given by Dennis McNerney, Bergen County Executive, and Bernadette P. McPherson, Chair of the Bergen County Board of Chosen Freeholders. The candidates for degrees will be presented by Dr. Andrew Tomko, Interim Academic Vice President, and Dr. Raymond Smith, Interim Vice President of Student Services. Stephen J. Moses, Chairman of the Board of Trustees, will confer the degrees.

Guillermo de Veyga, a resident of Teaneck will deliver the Valedictory Remarks. De Veyga is the current President of Bergen Community College’s Honor Society, Phi Theta Kappa, represented at the College by the Alpha Epsilon Phi Chapter. At the recent Middle States Regional Convention, de Veyga was named Middle States 2005 Outstanding Chapter President.

The Honorable Pam B. Jackman Brown - a sitting Housing Court Judge in Queens County, New York – is a living testament to the critical role that community colleges play in educating the nation’s leaders. Just like Bergen’s graduates, she received her start at a community college. She migrated to the United States in 1973 from Guyana, and enrolled at the Borough of Manhattan Community College, where she graduated with honors. From there, she transferred to John Jay College of Criminal Justice and graduated Magna Cum Laude. Then she enrolled at CUNY Law School, earning a Juris Doctorate in 1986 as a member of the law school’s first graduating class. Judge Jackman Brown is one of the Law School’s first judges and the only Guyanese judge in the State of New York. In addition, she is an Adjunct Professor at Borough of Manhattan Community College and a Licensed Lay Eucharistic Minister. Judge Jackman Brown is actively engaged within her community and as has served as a volunteer certified mediator with the Children’s Aid Society and is a mentor in the Society’s Youth Empowerment for Success Mentoring Program. Also active in her church, Judge Jackman Brown serves as the Bishop’s Senior Warden and is founder and coordinator of the church’s soup kitchen.

The Class of 2005 at Bergen Community College includes 1276 graduates for August 2004, December 2004, and May 2005. 1226 graduates have earned Associate in Arts, Associate in Science, or Associate in Applied Science degrees, and 50 have earned Certificates. The graduates, who have received a liberal arts based education, emphasizing communication and technological skills, are in demand by regional businesses, manufacturers, healthcare facilities, law firms, and public service agencies. The majority of the graduates will continue their education at four-year colleges.

Release was edited on May 2, 2005 to change name of Commencement Greeters.