FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CONGRESSMAN JOHN DINGELL TO DELIVER

MARYGROVE COLLEGE COMMENCEMENT ADDRESS MAY 13

Detroit, MI, April 25, 2006 -- U.S. Congressman John Dingell will deliver the commencement address to the Marygrove College Graduating Class of 2006 at Greater Grace Temple in Detroit on Saturday, May 13.

Marygrove will present an Honorary Doctor of Law Degree to Congressman Dingell and an Honorary Doctor of Human Letters Degree to Detroit artist Charles McGee and Marygrove President Dr. Glenda D. Price. The Board of Trustees will award the Theresa Maxis Award for Social Justice to Dr. Grace Lee Boggs.

Congressman Dingell is the longest serving of the 435 representatives in the House, earning him the title “Dean” of the House. Dingell represents Monroe County and parts of Wayne and Washtenaw counties and is the ranking member of the Committee on Energy and Commerce. Marygrove College is located in Mr. Dingell’s district.

Eighty-year old Charles McGee has been an active Detroit artist since 1947. Born in Clemson, SC, McGee is now a resident of Detroit’s Rosedale Park neighborhood and maintains an art studio on McNichols Rd. across from Marygrove.  In 1979, he co-founded the still-active CAID, a grass-roots organization that brings the Detroit art community together. McGee has a piece in the permanent collection of the Detroit Institute of Arts, a mosaic in one of the People Mover stations and a large sculpture at Beaumont Hospital.

On June 30, Dr. Glenda Price will retire after eight years as president, during which the College established Honors, Study Abroad and sports programs; Masters Degrees in Educational Technology and Social Justice; the Griots, a nationally recognized teacher certification program for African American males; and the Women’s Leadership Institute, among others. She serves on several corporate and community boards including Alma College, Compuware Corporation, LaSalle Bank, New Detroit, Detroit Institute of Arts, Detroit Symphony Orchestra, Detroit Regional Chamber and the Jewish Fund.

Marygrove’s 2006 Theresa Maxis Award for Social Justice Honoree, Dr. Grace Lee Boggs, was born of Chinese immigrants 90 years ago and has been a staunch activist for more than six decades. In 1940, she earned a Ph.D. in Philosophy from Barnard and Bryn Mawr College.  After college, Boggs married James Boggs, an African American factory worker, activist and revolutionary.  Together they joined the ongoing campaign for peace and social justice through Women Strike for Peace, the 1964 March on Washington, the Black Power Movement and the Third World Solidarity Struggle.  Today, she serves as the director of Detroit Summer, a multicultural, intergenerational youth program she and her husband founded in 1992.

Marygrove College is a private liberal arts college located at 8425 W. McNichols Rd. in Detroit. More than 1,200 students attend classes in its undergraduate and graduate programs in education, business, human resource management, social justice, social work, science, theater, music, the fine arts and many others. Call 866-313-1927 or visit www.marygrove.edu.

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