Regents honor Dragons men’s basketball team

Published or Revised March 27, 2008

Fresh from an eighth-place finish at the NJCAA National Basketball Tournament in Hutchinson, Kan., the Paris Junior College's Men's basketball team received recognition from the PJC Board of Regents. "It's been an exhausting time," said Head Coach Ross Hodge, "but these young men have been special and selfless, and represented the school and Paris extraordinarily well." He related that the tournament assigns "hosts" to each team as a guide and that their host, a 20-year veteran, said he'd never been around a group of young men who demonstrated as much class as the Dragons, especially after an emotional loss. In other business, the PJC Board of Regents voted to approve a housing plan for the future, which includes the construction of new residence halls and the eventual demolition of the South Campus residence hall and the B.E. Masters apartments. The regents also:

• Elected to participate once again in the local United Way Campaign instead of the State Employee Charitable Contribution Campaign, in order to ensure all donations are spent locally.
• Approved continuation of the contract with Aramark for food services for 2008-2009.
• Approved 2008-2009 increases to residence hall and board rates.
• Approved Driver Pipeline to install the gas line to the new building in Greenville.
• Voted to retain Denney Architects Inc. to design the residence halls.
• Voted not employee Cargill & Associates to assist with a capital campaign.
• Withdrew the request for an election as three candidates filed for three slots and there is no contested race. They are: Place 5, Roma Street; Place 7, Daigone Garner; and Place 8, Frankie Norwood.
• Approved the employment of Brad Gifford as College Readiness Advisor and Kevin Ward as Instructor of Welding, both effective April 1, 2008.
• All faculty recommended for re-employment 2008-09.