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Randolph-Macon College will award bachelor degrees to 201 seniors during its Commencement ceremony at 10 a.m. Saturday, May 30, at the R-MC Frank E. Brown Fountain Plaza on Henry Street. 

Commencement speaker will be Dr. Thomas R. Morris, Virginia’s secretary of education. Prior to his appointment, he served as president of Emory & Henry College, in southwest Virginia, for more than 13 years and was a celebrated faculty member at the University of Richmond for 21 years.

R-MC will confer honorary degrees to four distinguished leaders in education, government, business and the arts.

Macon F. Brock Jr., Class of 1964, and Joan Perry Brock will each receive the Honorary Degree Doctor of Laws. They are recognized leaders in philanthropy at Randolph-Macon College. 

Macon Brock has served on the R-MC Board of Trustees since 1992 and as chairman since 1999. He also is co-founder of Dollar Tree Stores Inc.

Together, the Brocks have generously given their time, support and leadership to a number of major projects at R-MC, including the Brock Sports and Recreation Center and the renovation of the Thomas Branch building, which includes the Brock Residence Hall. 

Most recently, they endowed the Macon and Joan Brock Professor in Psychology award, which was presented to Professor Kelly Lambert. They are also members of the R-MC Presidents Society and Heritage Society. Most recently, they made a lead gift towards R-MC’s campaign to help finance a major new capital project. 

James W. Dyke Jr., a partner with the law firm of McGuireWoods in McLean, also will receive an Honorary Degree Doctor of Laws. His broad practice covers corporate, legislative, education, governmental relations, and municipal law. He is highly regarded for his government service having been appointed Virginia secretary of education under Gov. L. Douglas Wilder from 1990-1993, and as domestic policy advisor to Vice President Walter Mondale from 1977-1981.

Professor Emerita B.J. Seymour will receive the Honorary Degree Doctor of Humanities (in absentia). The retired religious studies professor became the first full-time female faculty member of the college in 1971. She also was the first woman at R-MC to attain tenure, chair a department and be granted the rank of full professor. She retired in 2003 after 32 years of service to the college. 

In 2004, R-MC established the annual B.J. Seymour Alumna Award, which honors alumnae who have worked on behalf of issues important to women and/or girls.

The senior speaker for the class of 2009 will be Joel Bolton of Rockville, Md. A psychology major, he credits his study broad experiences with changing his life’s direction.

During the R-MC 2009 January term, Bolton traveled to Johannesburg and Cape Town, South Africa. His passion for the people and culture of South Africa has prompted him to attend graduate school in either Cape Town or Johannesburg.

Joel plans to further his studies in social psychology. In his speech, he will talk about the close connections he made at R-MC and also share experiences and stories of growth while a student. 

When asked about his years at R-MC, Joel said, “I look back with a smile at my achievements here, my involvement and my chances to show that I love Randolph-Macon.”