WarriorMagazineJanuary2021

ECCC leads state in transfer GPA for 4th straight year

East Central Community College is the best in the state for the fourth straight year in preparing students for success at four-year public universities in Mississippi. Students who transferred from ECCC to a public four-year institution earned the highest cumulative grade- point average (GPA) of all community college transfers in the state of Missis- sippi in 2020. According to data released by the Mississippi Institutions of Higher Learning (IHL), students who trans- ferred from East Central to one of the state’s eight public, four-year institu- tions earned a 3.32 GPA at baccalaure- ate graduation in 2020. Students from the community col- lege with the second highest GPA in

2020 earned a 3.30, and the average GPA for all 15 community colleges combined was a 3.20. This marks the fourth year in a row, and the sixth time in the past eight years, that all students who trans- ferred from ECCC to a public, four- year university in Mississippi earned the highest GPA at baccalaureate graduation of all the state’s commu- nity colleges. The report also showed that com- munity college transfer students performed academically as well in university courses as students who began their education at the senior institutions. The overall average GPA at graduation earned by all community college transfers and all IHL students was a 3.20.

“This again is fantastic news for the East Central Community College family,” said ECCC President Dr. Brent Gregory. “The success of our students remains the top priority for our col- lege and this latest report from IHL is a testament to the fact that ECCC is the very best at preparing students for the next level. “I congratulate our ECCC faculty and staff who work so hard every year to assure our students succeed in whatever they do after they leave East Central Community College, whether it is pursuing a higher degree at a four- year university or entering the work- force. I am also proud of our students for their efforts and congratulate them on their successes.”

ECCC’s Case to Present Humanities Teacher of the Year Lecture Feb. 24 •

East Central Community College English instructor Paige Case has been named the college’s 2020 Humanities Teacher of the Year and will present “Awakenings: Surpris- ing Intersections between Jonathan Edwards and Ralph Waldo Emerson,” a special program beginning at 2:30 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 24, 2021. Due to COVID-19, the public is invited to view the presentation on live stream on the Black Channel at www.eccclive.com. During her presentation, Case will present a compari- son/contrast of Jonathan Edwards and Ralph Waldo Emer- son, key figures in early American literature. Case said, “As theologians, the two could not have been more different. In fact, one Emerson scholar writes, ‘There can be no doubt that Jonathan Edwards would have abhorred from the bot- tom of his soul every proposition Ralph Waldo Emerson blandly put forth in the manifesto of 1836, Nature.’ This language is strong, but true, making the commonalities be- tween the two quite unexpected. This presentation explores their ‘surprising intersections’ as well as how these connec- tions led to their stark differences.” Case is a native of Brookhaven and graduated cum laude from Millsaps College in 1984 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in English. In 1999, she earned a Master of Arts in Teaching degree with an emphasis on literature from the University of West Alabama. During her career, Case has taught English and literature at the junior high, high school, community college, and

Case

university level. Her literary emphasis has been American literature, specifically early American literature. She has held her position at East Central Community College since 2015. Her primary focus at ECCC is composition, and she currently serves as lead instructor for Developmental English. She and her husband, David, have three children, Eliza- beth (Drew), Catherine (Brian), and Mary Madelon, and one granddaughter, Camille. CAMPUS NEWS

7