Top biology grad misses ceremony due to Texas Rangers obligations; mom to accept degree, award.

Sam Narron, a biology major with a chemistry minor, will graduate this spring with a grade point ratio of 3.647. Sam was a baseball pitcher with East Carolina University, and last year he signed a professional contract with the Texas Rangers.

He is graduating this spring magna cum laude. Because the baseball season has started, he will be unable to attend the graduation exercises on May 9 and 10. However, his mother will attend the Department of Biology graduation ceremony on Friday, May 9 at 4 p.m. in Hendrix Theatre in Mendenhall Student Center. She will officially represent him at the ceremony and receive his certificate of recognition for his academic performance as well as a gift from the Department of Biology.

Barbara Beltran, 328-6718 , student services assistant in the Department of Biology, can provide you with additional help and family contact information.

Family to accept degree for student killed in accident.

Elizabeth Bekkala was killed in a car accident on March 5, 2003 while in Minnesota completing an internship in speech and language pathology. Her family will be on campus for graduation to receive her degree. Also, the graduating class is having a celebration of her life, Friday, May 9.

"A beautiful person, a real tragedy." — Gregg Givens, director of graduate studies, Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, 252-328-4459 To contact family call Betty Smith at 328-4402.

Military wife, mother of five, graduates

Diane Miller was a Political Science nominee for the University Award, and one of 6 finalists, though she was not one of the four chosen. She will graduate on May 10 with a BA in political science and a minor in planning, with her husband, a Marine sergeant, and her five children cheering her on.

Miller began her college career pursuing honors at West Chester College in Pennsylvania. She left in 1986 to join the U.S. Navy, and served for two years as an aviation electronics technician.

She married a Marine, and has pursued a variety of careers while she has moved with him while raising a family of five children, the oldest of whom just joined the US Navy. They have been in North Carolina since 1989, when her husband was transferred to Camp Lejeune.

She was a "Key Wife" during Desert Storm, during which she was the contact person for families who were deployed. She helped them find the military's support organizations and to deal with the stresses of family life during deployment. Miller is also involved in the family and school life of the area, having served on the boards of various athletic leagues, coached recreational leagues, and coached a middle school girls' softball team for the past five years. Concurrently, she is a teaching assistant in an elementary school where she teaches computer competency to one class in each grade each day. In addition, since most of the children in the school are from military families, she is in charge of doing things like blocking the photos of the captured and killed US soldiers so that the children could not find them accidentally or intentionally, and possibly see someone they knew, or a family member.

Miller is also involved in activities to fund the Education Quality Up Another Level (EQUAL) program, which seeks additional sources of funding for the public schools. She has been appointed to the Havelock Board of Adjustment, where she hopes to steer the community toward environmentally sound policies.

She began at ECU January 2001, and has carried a steady load since. Her first B was in Russian, since she had limited speaking practice (she could only attend day classes one week out of seven due to her work schedule). She is considering either a graduate program or possibly a second degree in physics.

Contact: Nancy Spalding, political science, 328-1058

Roots in Tillery; future in law

Gary Redding grew up in the poor but committed African American community of Tillery, N.C. He has been successful in his academic work and improving the young people of his community and in Greenville, where he has worked with the ECU volunteer program.

His community was an African American settlement community during the depression and he has worked with his family and community to make their lives better. His uncle, Gary Grant, runs the Black Land Loss Organization and was nationally acclaimed.

Gary went to Nelson Mandela's ceremony as he became South Africa's first African president. Gary also went to Belize two years in a row in summer study abroad and worked as an assistant to the Attorney General and Chief Magistrate for the country of Belize. He has been accepted to the University of Wisconsin School of Law.

Contact: Gay Wilentz, director of ethnic studies and professor of English, 328-6678

Or:

Bruce Southard, chair, Department of English, 328-6380

Cancer survivor second in family to graduate college, first in grad school

Matthew Higgins will graduate with a BA in mathematics, and will start medical school at ECU in the fall. He comes from an economically disadvantaged family, and worked through high school to help his parents get out of debt. Matthew is only the second member of his extended family to graduate from college, and the first to be accepted to a graduate program.

Matthew is also a cancer survivor who volunteers for the American Cancer Society and numerous local organizations. Matthew will receive the Robert H. Wright Alumni Leadership Award, one of the most prestigious awards given to a graduating senior.

Contact: Gail Ratcliff, Department of Mathematics, 328-6461

Russian student meets Russian husband at ECU

Student from Russia, Anya, met her husband — also a Russian — at ECU.

He works as a medical researcher at Brody. She has a degree in teaching English and grammar, and is student teaching now in Snow Hill.

She will receive an M.S. in Special Education and will work at Snow Hill Primary. She was admitted to several honorary organizations and is hoping to stay in the U.S. a year at a time on a student visa.

Contact: Sandra Warren from College of Education 747-3529 (h); 258-9819 (cell)

Anya is a GA in the Assistive Technology Lab from 4 - 8:30 p.m. Monday - Friday (except Wednesdays). The Lab phone number is 328-8828 and her email is ASE0512@mail.ecu.edu

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