Barton Community College’s 42nd commencement is set for 7 p.m. Thursday, May 10, in the Barton Gymnasium.  College President Dr. Carl Heilman will  present a welcome to the graduates, their families and friends to the ceremony.
Barton graduates, faculty, trustees and administrators will march into the gymnasium to the traditional “Pomp and Circumstance” by Edward Elgar, performed by Keyboard Instructor Karole Erikson and Director of Instrumental Activities Steven Lueth. They also will play the recessional, Felix Mendelssohn’s “March of the Priests.”
Brigadier General Donald M. MacWillie will serve as the commencement speaker. MacWillie is a native of Killeen, Texas, and a graduate of Texas A&M University, Class of 1982. He possesses Masters Degrees in Administration from Central Michigan University and National Strategic Studies from the United States Army War College.  
As a Master Army Aviator, BG MacWillie has served in a variety of attack and assault helicopter units and combat aviation brigades. He has also commanded an Army unit at every echelon, to include: Company, Battalion, Brigade and the US Army Operational Test Command. His operational deployments include Operation Desert Shield/Storm, Operation Provide Comfort (Zakho, Iraq), Operation Joint Guard (Bosnia), and Operation Iraqi Freedom. In addition, BG MacWillie has twice served in the Pentagon as a member of the Army Staff and Joint Staff and his decorations include the Army Distinguished Service Medal, the Defense Superior Service Medal, Legion of Merit, two awards of the Bronze Star, two awards of the Air Medal, the Master Aviator Badge, and other various awards and badges.
Mike Johnson, chairman of the BCC Board of Trustees, will confer the degrees. Vice President of Instruction and Student Services Dr. Penny Quinn will present the graduates, and college trustees will award the diplomas.
Dean of Student Services Angie Maddy will present Barton’s 2012 Outstanding Graduates, Anna Voss of Hays and Devan Boeger of Great Bend, who will address their fellow graduates.
The Distinguished Instructor Award will be presented to Jann Sherman, mathematics instructor, and Howard Pastran, instructor in the military schools area at Ft. Riley. The Barton Community College Foundation will honor Lee Turner with the Distinguished Service Award, which is given to an individual or individuals who have shown genuine regard for the college through volunteer service and/or acts of philanthropy.
Ordained pastor and professor of philosophy of the Ft. Riley campus Gil Cloud will give the commencement invocation and benediction and Barton’s Hilltop Singers will  perform “You’ll Never Walk Alone.”
A reception will take place in the Student Union following the ceremony. Graduates and their families and friends are welcome.
Videos of the 2012 graduation ceremony and/or nurses pinning will be available on DVD for $20 each. For more information about the graduation video, contact Julie Munden at (620)792-9305 or mundenj@bartonccc.edu.  Highlights of graduation also will be available on YouTube, and photos will be available on Flickr at bartonccc.edu.