Some dignitaries were on hand Wednesday as more than a dozen inmates at the Danville Correctional Center received Associate Degrees from Danville Area Community College.
Among them were the Director of the Illinois Department of Corrections – Rob Jeffries – along with State Senator Scott Bennett, Danville Mayor Rickey Williams Jr., Police Chief Chris Yates, and three of the Deans from Danville Area Community College.
DACC President Stephen Nacco says the ceremony honored those who received degrees in the college’s transfer program…
{‘’So they get Associate Degrees in Arts or in Science. And together then they would transfer for a Bachelors or use their Associates for whatever they wanted to do in their career,’’ said President Nacco. ‘’In the spring we normally have more than 50 graduates in that program.’’}
Danville Area Community College also provides four Career and Technical classes at the Danville Correctional Center….
{‘’We have four Career and Technical programs that are in Construction, and in what we call Career Tech – which is like a basic machinists and basic technical education. We have Custodial Services there and Auto Tech. Those are regular programs where the students graduate with certificates and end up getting jobs in that,’’ added Nacco during an interview with VermilionCountyFirst.com News.}
One of the inmates who spoke at Wednesday’s graduation ceremony said getting the degree had been a life-long dream of his. He had earlier been in maximum security but was able to transfer to the Danville Correctional Center to pursue his dream.
