Middlesex Community College

10 a.m.
Thursday, May 22, 2014

Lowell Memorial Auditorium
50 E. Merrimack St.,
Lowell, MA

This year's commencement speaker will be Hill Harper, award-winning actor, best-selling author and youth advocate.

Harper starred on the CBS TV drama "CSI: NY" from 2004 to 2013, and recently joined the cast of the USA Network's spy drama "Covert Affairs." A graduate of Brown University who also holds graduate degrees in law and public administration from Harvard, Harper is a friend and former Harvard classmate of President Barack Obama.

The author of four New York Times bestsellers, Harper has also earned seven NAACP Image Awards for his writing and acting. He is founder of the Manifest Your Destiny Foundation, dedicated to empowering underserved youth through mentorship, scholarship and grant programs. People Magazine named him one of its Sexiest Men Alive in 2013.

Student speakers TBA.

Middlesex Community College will present its 2014 Distinguished Alumni Award to Sgt. Patrick Towle of the Bedford Police Department, a 1985 MCC graduate who led the Northeastern Massachusetts Law Enforcement Council (NEMLEC) SWAT team response in the days following the Boston Marathon bombing.

A lifelong Bedford resident, Towle will receive the award at MCC's 2014 Commencement exercises.

"The NEMLEC SWAT unit was there from Monday through Friday of that historic week, working as one, and proudly representing the 57 cities and towns that comprise the NEMLEC region," said Bedford Police Chief Robert Bongiorno. "Their work in those five days is immeasurable, and I'm proud to say that (Sgt. Towle) represented Bedford well in that crisis."

Towle is a "consummate leader" Bongiorno added. "He is respected and followed, and exemplifies what you want from a leader. Sgt. Towle will rise to whatever occasion he is faced with, but he always does it in a manner that is professional and with the greater interest of public safety as his focus."

MCC's Distinguished Alumni Award is given annually to a graduate who demonstrates achievement in their career or other areas of life, exceptional service to the community, and commitment to Middlesex, as well as integrity and character.

Middlesex Community College will host a reception for graduates and their guests directly following commencement exercises in the Lowell City Building Cafeteria. Light refreshments will be served.