More than 100 graduates are expected to participate in Eastern New Mexico University-Roswell’s Fifty-Second Commencement Convocation on Thursday, December 10 at the Roswell Convention and Civic Center, 912 N. Main St. The ceremony will begin at 7 p.m. Members of the ENMU-Roswell Community College Board, ENMU Board of Regents and Dr. Steven Gamble, ENMU President, will attend the ceremony. Several local area bachelor’s and master’s degree candidates from ENMU in Portales will also participate, in addition to a group of New Mexico Youth ChalleNGe Academy cadets receiving Program Certificates. Youth ChalleNGe cadets will also serve as the Color Guard and the ENMU-Roswell Community Band will provide the music. The featured speaker will be Jim Ledet, a candidate for graduation, who will receive an Associate of Arts degree in Business Administration.
Currently a resident of El Paso, Texas, Ledet is a distance education student who has taken online classes through ENMU-Roswell. He received an Associate of Applied Science degree in Aviation Maintenance Technology from ENMU-Roswell in 2006. Born in Columbia, Mississippi, Ledet dropped out of high school to work in the oilfield and help support his family. He later completed and received his GED and joined the US Army. Throughout his military career, Ledet earned numerous training certifications and was named Soldier of the Year for 1988 and 1989. After fulfilling an eight-year military obligation, he decided to leave the military and start a second career path as a Department of Defense Contractor managing various types of military, government, commercial, and federal agency programs.
Ledet has served the aviation/aerospace and defense industry for nearly 25 years and currently serves as the Director of Operations and Special Projects in support of long-range corporate strategy, marketing and new business development, worldwide field services, and special operations. Since 1993, he has served in multiple overseas deployments throughout the Middle East and Far East including Kuwait, Iraq, Afghanistan, Japan, Korea, Iceland, and most recently, a 13-month deployment in the Philippines with Special Operations Command and the US Army Joint Special Operations Task Force.
Ledet plans to receive a Bachelor of Applied Arts and Sciences degree in Business Management in May of next year through ENMU-Portales. He was recently approved and accepted into the Graduate School of Business at ENMU and plans to complete his MBA in December of 2010. Ledet also plans to complete a third associate degree with ENMU-Roswell – an Associate of Science in Criminal Justice.