NFL player-turned-farmer to speak at VGCC Commencement
Vance-Granville Community College will welcome former NFL player and Henderson native Jason Brown to serve as the principal commencement speaker for graduation exercises on Friday, May 13.
Daniel Davis of Norlina, parliamentarian of the VGCC Student Government Association, will be the student speaker. Approximately 550 students are scheduled to be honored during ceremonies beginning at 6 p.m. at the gazebo by the lake on the college’s Main Campus in Vance County. For those unable to attend the event in person, VGCC will broadcast a live video feed from the ceremony online at vgcc.springerstudios.net .
Brown (pictured above, left) is a graduate of Northern Vance High School and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he studied interpersonal communications while on an athletic scholarship. He played a total of seven seasons in the NFL as a center, first with the Baltimore Ravens and later the St. Louis Rams. With several lucrative offers on the table, he decided instead to take a leap of faith and walk away from professional football in 2012. He and his wife, Dr. Tay Brown, moved back to North Carolina and purchased a 1,000-acre farm in Louisburg, which he dubbed First Fruits Farm. The farm has hosted an annual youth fishing derby, hosted students from N.C. State University, and collaborated with many faith and service organizations. In 2014 alone, the Browns’ farm yielded about 10,000 pounds of cucumbers and 120,000 pounds of sweet potatoes, which were given to food pantries and churches throughout the Triangle area.
Davis (pictured above, right) is graduating with both an Associate in Arts degree and an Associate in Science degree. Later this month, he will graduate from Warren Early College High School. He is the first Early College high school student to ever serve as the student graduation speaker at VGCC. A Dean’s List student, Davis has served as a VGCC ambassador for the past two years and was elected to serve as SGA Parliamentarian for the 2015-2016 year. At Warren Early College High School, he has been a member of the National Beta Club and vice president of the student government. Davis has been a member of the Warren County Teen Court team for the last three years and won the “Best Prosecuting Attorney” award at the North Carolina Teen Court Association Mock Trial Summit held in April in Henderson. Davis is transferring to East Carolina University in the fall to study business, with subsequent plans to attend law school.
Students serving as graduation marshals will be Anna Tilley of Creedmoor; Brenda Rodriguez Morales and Janet Rodriguez Morales, both of Henderson; Benjamin Layton of Kittrell; Jessica Harris of Louisburg; Charles Keith of Raleigh; Lauren Dorn of Wake Forest; and Rowan Morris of Warrenton.
Above, top row: marshals Anna Tilley and Brenda Rodriguez Morales; second row: Janet Rodriguez Morales and Benjamin Layton; third row: Jessica Harris and Charles Keith; bottom row: Lauren Dorn and Rowan Morris.
