Three Community Leaders to Serve as Access and Equity Officers

CONTACT: LISA GARRETT, EXT. 2315

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 11/12/99

PENDLETON --- Three community leaders have been elected to serve on the executive committee of Tri-County Technical College's Access and Equity Advisory Board.

Serving one-year terms are Dr. Drew Lanham, of Seneca, assistant professor of forest resources at Clemson University; Valerie Ramsey, of Central, an accountant/fiscal analyst for the dean's office of the College of Health, Education and Human Development at Clemson University; and
Jason Rucker, of Belton, a retired principal.

The 30-member access and equity committee aids Tri-County personnel by providing guidance in identifying barriers to enrollment, structuring recruitment/retention activities, attracting new minority faculty and staff, and creating and maintaining an instructional environment which values racial and cultural diversity.

Dr. Lanham, a certified wildlife biologist, holds a Ph. D. in forest resources and M.S. and B.A degrees in zoology from Clemson University. He is a member of the Kappa Alpha Psi fraternity, the Wildlife Society, the Southeastern Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies and the Society of American Foresters. He and his wife, Janice, have two children.

Ms. Ramsey is a 1988 alumna of Tri-County's Arts and Sciences Division. Several years after Ms. Ramsey received her Associate in Arts degree, she earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Human Resource Management from Southern Wesleyan University. In 1995 she earned her Master of Arts degree in Human Resource Development from Clemson University. She is currently pursuing a Ph. D. in Educational Leadership at Clemson. She was named the 1999 Outstanding Woman of the Year (Classified Staff) by the President's Commission on the Status of Women at Clemson. She also was appointed to a three-year term on this commission. She received the Outstanding Achievement Award from Clemson University's Black Faculty and Staff Association in 1995.

Mr. Rucker retired as an elementary school principal in 1993 after a long career in education. Following his retirement he began working as the GED coordinator at Tri-County (1993 – 95) and later as a science teacher at the Alternative School in District 5 in Anderson (1995 – 97). He currently is working part-time with the Clemson University Extension Service's Save the Children program. He is a member of the Kappa Gamma Gamma chapter of the Omega Psi Phi fraternity. He holds a B.S. in biology and a master's in special education from South Carolina State University and has earned 30 hours above his master's in educational administration at Clemson University.
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