Interim UDC President Promises Leadership
Dr. James E. Lyons, Sr., interim president of the University of the District of Columbia, was introduced to a gathering of alumni and supporters at a Sunday brunch where university leaders pledged to “nurture the next generation” of leaders.
Lyons, a respected educator and decision-maker, came out of retirement to take the interim post, effective March, 2013. “I’ll do all I can on my watch to continue this great legacy” at the university, promised Lyons in his talk before 122 attendees at the Mayflower Hotel.
The Alumni Legacy Brunch, honoring the Golden Jubilee Class of 1963, received a welcoming letter from Mayor Vincent Gray. He was unable to attend, so Patricia Elwood, head of Protocol and International Affairs in the Executive Office of the Mayor, presented the congratulatory document.
Presiding over the program was UDC’s Lee Brian Reba, executive director of corporate relations and special events.
Among the participants were Judith Terra, chair of the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities and member of the UDC Foundation, Inc., board of directors; Felicia Murphy-Phillips, UDC Foundation’s executive director; Donnel Jones, president of the Undergraduate Student Government Association, Dr. Alton B. Byrd, president of the UDC National Alumni Society; Jerome Shelton, member of UDC’s board of trustees;
Nigel Parkinson, president and CEO of Parkinson Construction which is building the new student center; and Jay Narain, president of CONSYS construction which built the business school and renovated the new UDC plaza deck.
Others included Virginia Ali, owner of Ben’s Chili Bowl; DC Chamber of Commerce CEO and President Barbara Lang and her husband, Gerald; DC Democratic Party leaders Christine M. Warnke and Virginia E. Hayes Williams; PR expert Jan DuPlain; and Diana Mayhew, president of the National Cherry Blossom Festival.