From staff reports

It’s graduation time, and Alcorn State University will kick off the season May 10.

It’s part of a long line of Vicksburg-area graduations, at both the college and high school levels.

Alcorn’s event, set for 8:30 a.m., will feature U.S. Rep. John Lewis, D-Ga., a founding father of the Civil Rights Movement. Lewis is identified, along with Whitney Young, A. Phillip Randolph, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., James Farmer and Roy Wilkins, as one of the top six architects of desegregation. At age 23, in August 1963, he spoke at the March on Washington, the same event during which King gave his “I Have A Dream” speech.

The ceremony will be at Jack Spinks Stadium, but will be moved to the Davey L. Whitney complex if it rains.

About a week later, on May 16, graduates of Hinds Community College, including those of the Vicksburg campus, will receive diplomas at the main facility in Raymond. Speaking at the 8:30 a.m. ceremony for nursing grads will be Lamar Nesbit, senior vice president for human resources at St. Dominic Health Services. At ceremonies at 11 a.m. and at 2 p.m., Dr. Martha Saunders, president of the University of Southern Mississippi, will speak. Raymond ceremonies will be broadcast live on the Web at www.hindscc.edu.

On May 18, at 2 p.m. at Hinds’ Utica ceremony, Dr. Daniel Watkins, dean of the College of Education and Human Development at Jackson State University, will speak.

If you goAlcorn State University – 8:30 a.m. May 10; Jack Spinks Stadium.Hinds Community College-Raymond – May 16; 8:30 a.m., nurses; 11 a.m., students with last names A-L; 2 p.m., students with the last names M-Z; Hogg Auditorium in Cain-Cochran HallHinds Community Collge-Utica – 2 p.m. May 18; J.D. Boyd Gymnasium.Porters Chapel Academy – 3 p.m. May 17; Vicksburg Auditorium.St. Aloysius High School – 10 a.m. May 24; Vicksburg Auditorium.Vicksburg Community School – 7 p.m. May 16; Vicksburg Auditorium.Vicksburg High School – 8 p.m. May 22; Memorial Stadium.Warren Central High School – 7 p.m. May 23; Viking Stadium.In area high school graduation ceremonies, more than 450 are expected to receive diplomas, starting with the first graduating class from Vicksburg Community School.

“We are very proud of our first graduating class,” said Renee Kendrick, administrator of the school. Five local students and two from Panola will graduate from the school, which started four years ago. “It’s very exciting.”

The ceremony will be at 7 p.m. May 16 at Vicksburg Auditorium, with Tony Winkler, pastor of Vicksburg Church of God, delivering the speech.

The next day, 26 seniors at Porters Chapel Academy are set to graduate in a 3 p.m. ceremony at the Vicksburg Convention Center. Mark Buys, a BancorpSouth executive and PCA graduate, will speak.

Next in line for diplomas will be seniors of the Vicksburg Warren School District. About 400 students, 200 each from Vicksburg and Warren Central high schools, are expected to graduate. Valedictorians from each school, to be announced later, are expected to make speeches.

The local commencement season will wrap May 24 at Vicksburg Auditorium with the expected graduation of 39 seniors from St. Aloysius High School. Joseph Latino, bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Jackson, will speak.

Statewide, in university graduations:

SaturdayMississippi State University – 10 a.m.; Richard Adkerson, Freeport-McMoRan, Cooper & Gold Inc. chief executive officer.May 9University of Southern Mississippi – 1:30 and 6:30 p.m.; George Schlogel, Hancock Bank chief executive officerJackson State University – 6 p.m.; U.S. Rep. Bennie ThompsonMay 10Jackson State University – 9 a.m.; U.S. Sen. Thad CochranUniversity of Mississippi – 9 a.m.; Shepard Smith, Fox News anchor and Ole Miss alumnusMillsaps College – 9:30 a.m.; Greg Iles, Mississippi authorDelta State University – 10 a.m.; James Harvey, executive president of Global Distribution Services and chief information officer for Hilton Hotels Corp.Mississippi University for Women – 10 a.m. and 1:30 p.m.; Belle Wheelan, president of Southern Association of Colleges and SchoolsMississippi Valley State University – 10 a.m.; U.S. Rep. Bennie ThompsonBelhaven College – 10:30 a.m.; Alvin Austin, chancellor of LeTournaeu UniversityMississippi College – 10:30 a.m., U.S. Sen. Roger WickerMay 11Tougaloo College – 10 a.m.; Sheryl Lee Ralph, actressMay 23University of Mississippi Medical Center – 10 a.m.