MDC Announces 2004 Commencement Ceremonies: First Lady Laura Bush Headlines Keynote Speakers MIAMI, April 22 /PRNewswire/ -- Laura Bush, First Lady of the United States, will speak at Miami Dade College's North Campus commencement ceremony, one of six separate graduation ceremonies the college is hosting on Saturday May 1, 2004 for some six thousand graduates. Mrs. Bush will address the graduates and their families at the North Campus commencement ceremony, where she will also be awarded an Honorary Degree, at 10:30 a.m. at the James L. Knight Center on 400 SE 2nd Avenue, Miami. MDC will also recognize imprisoned Cuban political dissident Dr. Oscar Elias Biscet, president of the Lawton Foundation for Human Rights, with an Honorary Degree at 5 p.m. at the Kendall Campus commencement, to be held at the Theodore Gibson Health Center (Gym), at 11011 SW 104 St, Kendall. Knight Foundation CEO Hodding Carter III will be the keynote speaker at that event. Florida Supreme Court Justice R. Fred Lewis will be the keynote speaker at the Homestead Campus commencement, where he will also receive an Honorary Degree, at 8 a.m. in the Homestead YMCA, located at 1034 NE 8th Street, Homestead. The Honorable Manny Diaz, Mayor of Miami, will be the keynote speaker at the Wolfson Campus commencement, to be held at 7:00 p.m. in the James L. Knight Center on 400 SE 2nd Avenue, Miami, where Osvaldo Soto, of the Spanish American League Against Discrimination, will receive an Honorary Degree. Below is the list of MDC's six commencement ceremonies in order of time of day: 8 a.m. Homestead Campus at YMCA at 1034 NE 8th Street, Homestead Keynote Speaker: Florida Supreme Court Justice Alfred Lewis, who will also receive an Honorary Degree. 250 graduates expected at commencement. The procession will start at 8:00 a.m. preceded by the St. Andrews Bag Pipe Band 10:30 a.m. North Campus at James L. Knight Center, 400 SE 2nd Avenue, Miami Keynote Speaker: Laura Bush, First Lady of the United States, who will also receive an Honorary Degree. 1,460 graduates expected at commencement. 12 noon InterAmerican Campus at Dade County Auditorium, 2901 West Flagler St., Miami Keynote Speaker: Joe Oglesby, Editorial Page Editor, The Miami Herald 290 graduates expected at commencement. 2:30 p.m. Medical Center Campus at the James L. Knight Center, 400 SE 2nd Avenue Keynote Speaker: Miami Dade College Professor Susan Kass 1,050 graduates expected at commencement. At the end of the ceremony, Medical Center Campus graduates blow bubbles from bubble pens as they march out. 5:00 p.m. Kendall Campus, Theodore Gibson Health Center (Gym), 11011 SW 104 St. Keynote Speaker: Hodding Carter III, President & CEO, Knight Foundation Honorary Degree Recipient: Dr. Oscar Elias Biscet, Cuban Political Prisoner 1,900 graduates expected at commencement. At the end of the ceremony, hundreds of blue & white balloons drop from the ceiling. 7:00 p.m. Wolfson Campus at the James L. Knight Center, 400 SE 2nd Avenue Keynote Speaker: Honorable Manny Diaz, Mayor of Miami Honorary Degree Recipient: Osvaldo Soto, Spanish American League Against Discrimination 1,070 graduates expected at commencement. The Wolfson College Choir will be performing during the Ceremony, and there will be the traditional parade of flags representing the various countries of graduate origin. Afro-Cuban physician Dr. Oscar Elias Biscet is the founder and president of the Lawton Foundation for Human Rights, an organization founded in 1997 to promote justice and respect for human dignity. Dr. Biscet was repeatedly imprisoned by Fidel Castro's regime as a result of his outspokenness on issues of human rights abuse in the Cuban health system. He is currently jailed in the Kilo 8 prison in Pinar del Rio. Dr. Biscet is part of a new generation of Cuban human rights activists who are inspired by the example of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Mahatma Ghandi and the Dalai Lama, and their use of civil disobedience to promote social change and public awareness against injustice. Florida Supreme Court Justice R. Fred Lewis was appointed to the Supreme Court of Florida on December 7, 1998, by the late Gov. Lawton Chiles. Formerly in private practice in Miami, Judge Lewis specialized in civil trial and appellate litigation. Selected as Florida's Citizen of the Year in 2001 by the Florida Council, Justice Lewis has been heavily involved in children's issues, serving as a member of the Board of Directors of Miami Children's Hospital and many of its committees and panels. In 2001 he also received the "Everyday Hero" award for his outstanding contributions to community service in Florida. This and other news releases from MDC's Media Relations Department are available on the web at http://www.mdc.edu/. DATASOURCE: Miami Dade College CONTACT: Beverly Counts Rodrigues, Director of Media Relations, +1-305-237-3366 or Paola Prado, +1-305-237-3710, both of Miami Dade College Web site: http://www.mdcc.edu/

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