Obama Appointee Perez to Speak at HCC Ceremony
Released November 4, 2009 (Columbia, MD) – Thomas Perez, U.S. Assistant Attorney General of the U.S. Department of Justice Civil Rights Division, will speak this Sunday, November 8, at the high school Diploma Recognition Ceremony at Howard Community College (HCC). The annual ceremony honors students who have participated in HCC’s General Educational Development (GED) Program or National External Diploma Program (NEDP) in the college’s Division of Continuing Education and Workforce Development and successfully earned their Maryland high school diploma. This year’s cohort numbers about 70, of which approximately 30 will attend the Sunday event. Perez previously served as the Secretary of Maryland’s Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation, which protects consumers by enforcing a wide range of consumer rights laws, including those covering mortgages, workplace safety, wages, and workforce issues. He was principal architect of a sweeping package of state lending and foreclosure reforms addressing the foreclosure crisis in Maryland. A first-generation Dominican-American, Perez has spent his entire career in public service and civil rights for the U.S. Government, including service under Attorney General Janet Reno, under Senator Edward Kennedy, and in the Clinton Administration. He received his Bachelor’s degree from Brown University, a Master’s in Public Policy from the John F. Kennedy School of Government, and a Doctorate from Harvard. The ceremony is free of charge and will take place at 3:00 p.m. in Smith Theatre on the HCC main campus at 10901 Little Patuxent Parkway, in Columbia. For more information, call Becky Lessey at 443-518-4982. About HCC |