May 2, 2014 2 min read

Westmoreland County Community College will hold its annual commencement ceremony at 6 p.m. Thursday, May 8 in the Founders Hall gymnasium at the WCCC Youngwood Campus.

WCCC President Daniel J. Obara will award degrees, diplomas and certificates to nearly 1,100 graduates from the college’s four-county service area which includes Greene, Fayette, Westmoreland and Indiana counties.

The commencement ceremony will include a keynote address by James Bendel, executive director of the Community Foundation of Westmoreland County, an affiliate of The Pittsburgh Foundation. He also serves as the president of the board of directors of the Westmoreland County Community College Educational Foundation, which recently raised $31.2 million in capital campaign funds for the college’s Advanced Technology Center and WCCC-Latrobe center building projects.

Bendel previously served as the executive director of Adelphoi Village and Adelphoi, Inc., alumni director at Saint Vincent College and director of development at Seton Hill University.

Last May, Bendel was honored with the First Class Patriot Achievement Award by the Financial Planning Association of Pittsburgh in acknowledgement of his years of service to the community and his country. Bendel served in the Navy for 29 years, with four years active duty and the remainder in the reserves. He retired a Navy captain in 1989.

He holds an honorary doctor of letters from Saint Vincent College where he earned a bachelor’s degree in political science and a master’s degree in teaching from the University of Pittsburgh. He remains active in the community, serving on the boards of a number of organizations.

He and his wife Kathy have five children and six grandchildren.