Macon Cove Campus
5983 Macon Cove
Memphis, TN 38134-7693

Union Avenue Campus
737 Union Avenue
Memphis, TN 38103-3322

Fayette Center

Gill Center

Millington Center

Southeast Center

Whitehaven Center

901/333-STCC * www.southwest.tn.edu

DATE: April 29, 2002
CONTACT: Calvin Burns, (901) 333-5338 or Marilyn Duncan (901) 333-4247

Real Estate Executive to Keynote Southwest's Spring Commencement;
"Hard Working Wife, Mom" will give the Student Address

The 2002 Spring Commencement of Southwest Tennessee Community College will be held at 10:30 a.m., Saturday, May 11, the Pyramid Arena, 1 Auction Avenue. Associate Degrees or Certificates of Credit will be conferred on more than 1,000 graduates. Larry Jensen, president of Commercial Tennessee, Inc., will give the keynote address. Wanda Katchens, an Information Technology major, is the student speaker. This event is free and open to the public.

A prominent civic and business leader, Jensen has headed Commercial Tennessee for a decade. His company provides corporations, institutions, and individuals with strategies, planning and implementation related to business and commercial real estate. He has a long history of effective service to the community. As immediate past chairman of the Memphis Area Chamber of Commerce, he was directly involved in decisions that have influenced, and will continue to advance the direction of economic growth in our city for years to come. He currently is chairman of the steering committee of the Governors Alliance for Regional Excellence. He also serves on the Memphis, Light, Gas, and Water Division Community Advisory Council.

Pre-eminent in Jensen's current leadership activities is his involvement with Memphis Tomorrow. He is president of this organization of chief executive officers of Memphis-area companies who are committed to identifying and providing leadership on selected civic and economic issues. He was graduated from the University of Memphis with a BA in Journalism and has 25 years of experience in the real estate business.

Dr. Ada Shotwell, Dean of Liberal Arts and Education at Southwest, describes the student speaker, Katchens, as being "the epitome of the hard working wife and mom." Katchens, a non-traditional student, is married and has three elementary school-aged children. She is graduating Magna Cum Laude with a 3.57 grade point average.

Katchens is a member of the Upsilon Delta chapter of Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society. She earned an Associate of Applied Science degree in Information Technology with a concentration in Emerging Technology, by attending classes at night and on weekends. During the day, she is a full-time employee at Nike, Inc. Honors and awards include: President's Honors List, All-Tennessee State Academic Team, All-USA Academic Team nominee, and Certificate of Recognition from Phi Theta Kappa.

Southwest Tennessee Community College is the largest community college in the state of Tennessee. Southwest offers Associate of Arts and Associate of Science degrees for transfer to four-year colleges and universities; Associate of Applied Science degrees for immediate career entry into technical, business, service, education and allied health fields; and Technical and Academic certificates to prepare individuals for entry-level positions in the marketplace.

Southwest Tennessee Community College is a Tennessee Board of Regents institution.