More than 1,300 students graduate from Harrisburg Area Community College this Saturday. Graduates from HACC's four campuses in Harrisburg, Gettysburg, Lancaster and Lebanon prepare for the commencement ceremony that begins at 10:30am, then proceed to the quadrangle outside Cooper Student Center on the Wildwood Campus. This year's commencement speaker, United States Representative Tim Holden, joins HACC president Dr. Edna Baehre, board of trustee members and selected faculty, student and alumni representatives with remarks to the class of 2003. Dr. Baehre and board chair Velma Redmond present this year's honorary degree to Ronald Hankey, board chair of Adams County National Bank and member of HACC's Foundation board and Gettysburg Campus advisory committee.

Featured speaker Representative Tim Holden is in his sixth term as a member of Congress, representing the Seventeenth District comprised of Schuylkill, Dauphin and Lebanon Counties, and parts of Perry and Berks Counties.

Rep. Holden serves on the agriculture committee focusing on forestry, conservation, and rural development. He works as the senior Pennsylvanian on the transportation and infrastructure committee, serving the subcommittees on highways and transit and aviation.

Following Rep. Holden's remarks Lancaster Campus graduate Ellen Dooley offers her comments as this year's selected student representative. Dooley, of Lititz, set two goals when enrolling at the Lancaster Campus - to earn a 4.0 grade point average and be the commencement speaker. She accomplished both as a social service major.

Dooley, a native of Philadelphia, won the academic achievement award for 2001 and 2003 at the Lancaster Campus. A student ambassador, she has served as a new student orientation leader.

"The years I've been at HACC have been a wonderful experience," says Dooley, a homemaker and mother of two. "I know I've grown in self-confidence and self-awareness. I like to think my daughter in California enrolled at Santa Rosa Community College in part because of what I gained from college."

A member of Phi Theta Kappa, the international honor society for community colleges, Dooley plans to pursue an advanced degree in pastoral care and counseling at Evangelical School of Theology, Myerstown.

She and her husband, Wayne Dooley, have been married 33 years. They have a daughter, Sarah, and son, Benjamin. A homemaker for years, Mrs. Dooley is the first in her family to go to college.

Before certificates and degrees are conferred, Dr. Baehre and Velma Redmond will present the honorary doctor of public service degree to board chairman of Adams County National Bank, Ron Hankey. One of Adams County's leading citizens, Hankey is an advocate for education. Hankey continues his service at the Gettysburg Campus, where he has been an active, contributing member of the Gettysburg Campus advisory committee since its inception. Hankey has since joined HACC's Foundation Board, furthering the ability for students to afford a quality education.

Most significantly, Hankey's efforts as a Foundation board member helped bring HACC and Gettysburg Hospital together in a partnership that created the new Gettysburg Hospital Health Care Learning Center at the Gettysburg Campus. The center now houses the health care programs offered in Gettysburg, including the nursing program that students can now complete entirely in Gettysburg.

Following Hankey's acceptance, Diane Thompson, assistant professor of English, and Brad Leidich, professor of respiratory care, along with Dr. Edna V. Baehre, and board members Daniel Delaney and Harlon Robinson announce and present degrees and diplomas to members of the graduating class.