News Releases @ TCC

TCC HONORS 2 CITIZENS WITH MARTIN LUTHER KING JR. AWARDS
Dr. Hugo Owens Sr. and Monica Terry embody King’s life dreams

HAMPTON ROADS, Va. – (Jan 17, 2006) – Honoring the memory of Martin Luther King Jr., Tidewater Community College has recognized two outstanding individuals who embody King’s dreams and life work.

Dr. Hugo A. Owens Sr. of Chesapeake and Monica L. Terry of Portsmouth received distinguished service awards during TCC’s seventh annual Martin Luther King Jr. recognition event held Jan. 13 with guest speaker William A. Ward, former mayor of the city of Chesapeake.

TCC Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Community Distinguished Service Award
~ Hugo A. Owens Sr., DDS
An inspired leader, Dr. Hugo A. Owens Sr. has dedicated his life to fighting for the rights of all citizens. The great-grandson of a slave who bought his freedom from a Deep Creek plantation in 1855, Owens has deep roots in the area. As a young boy, he attended segregated schools in Norfolk County, now Chesapeake, and went on to earn a bachelor’s from Virginia State University and a Doctor of Dental Surgery degree from Howard University’s College of Dentistry.

A practicing dentist for 44 years, he fought to make Portsmouth General Hospital a truly public facility with services available to all people, and led the court battle to desegregate Portsmouth city park and golf course.

Owens, one of the first African Americans elected to the Chesapeake City Council, served as vice mayor for close to a decade. He was recognized by community leaders when the new Hugo A. Owens Middle School opened in Deep Creek in 1997.

He demonstrated his concern for advancing the economic interests of all people through the power of education while serving on Old Dominion University’s board of visitors and as the first African American rector for the institution.

TCC Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. College Distinguished Service Award
~ Monica L. Terry
Helping those in need and inspiring others, Monica Terry, administrative assistant to TCC’s Portsmouth Campus provost, heads up charitable drives throughout the year collecting pajamas for St. Mary’s Home for Disabled Children, food for Union Mission, school supplies for children with Salvation Army, beads and socks for residents of Maryview Nursing Center and supplies for soldiers serving in Iraq.

She also serves as a United Way Day of Caring organizer, Commonwealth of Virginia Campaign leader, American Heart Association Heart Walk coordinator and as a volunteer with Help and Emergency Response (HER shelter).

A graduate of TCC and an employee for 16 years, Terry serves on many volunteer committees and is a member of the President’s Advisory and Planning Council, Black History Month Committee, Student Activities Planning Committee, Campus Social Activities Ad-Hoc Committee, and the Classified Association, for which she serves as campus chair. TCC students honored her last year with the 2004 Student’s Choice Award.

TCC Martin Luther King Jr. Scholarship ~ Billie J. Norris
Also awarded at the event - TCC honor student and member of Phi Theta Kappa honor society Billie J. Norris will receive the TCC Martin Luther King Jr. Scholarship. Norris actively volunteers in the community tutoring youth and helping to feed families in need. A member of Student Government Association (SGA), she earned a Virginia Community College Association leadership award in 2005, as well as a TCC SGA Distinguished Student Award.