President DiCroce receives President Emerita designation

Tidewater Community College President Deborah M. DiCroce has received the title of “President Emerita,” conferred yesterday by the State Board for Community Colleges. DiCroce steps down as president on March 1, 2012, and will begin her “second act,” becoming president and chief executive officer of the nonprofit Hampton Roads Community Foundation.

According to a Jan. 19 news release by the Virginia Community College System, the honorary title, rarely used in Virginia’s Community Colleges, was recommended by TCC’s College Board.

The news release noted: “It’s been an incredible journey,” DiCroce told State Board members as she accepted a resolution from them. She began working with Virginia’s Community Colleges in 1976 as a 23-year-old adjunct professor of English at TCC, planning to work a year or two before heading to law school.

“A year’s sojourn became a lifetime career,” she says, as she went on to become dean of humanities at the Virginia Beach Campus, then later provost of the Portsmouth Campus before moving to Charlottesville to serve as president of Piedmont Virginia Community College from 1989-1998. She returned to TCC as president in 1998.

“We are grateful for Debbie’s service and distinguished community college career,” said Glenn DuBois, chancellor of Virginia’s Community Colleges. “She has never hesitated to speak up, to challenge old notions and ideas and to pursue and create better ones. Her impact will be felt throughout Tidewater Community College and the VCCS for years to come.”