Dr. Alfred A. Roberts will be inaugurated as the fifth president of Southside Virginia Community College on Friday, Oct. 30.

Dr. Glenn DuBois, chancellor of the Virginia Community College System, will conduct the presidential inauguration ceremony at 11 a.m. on the Christanna Campus in Alberta, John J. Cavan Workforce Development Center.

Steeped in historic tradition, an inauguration dates from the Middle Ages reflecting the history of higher education through the carrying of the college mace to the processional of participants in academic regalia.

A ceremonious occasion for the community college, the event marks a landmark event in the life and history of the college.

When selected as the next college president, Dr. Roberts was provost of the Christanna Campus in Alberta.

He served as provost of the John H. Daniel Campus of SVCC, in Keysville, from 2010-2012.

Prior to that, he was the vice president of workforce services at SVCC.

His career at SVCC began in 1995 when he assumed the role of administrator for student support services.

Before joining SVCC, Roberts was program director for Sussex-Greensville-Emporia Adult Activity Services and also taught radio and television production classes at Norfolk State University for a short period of time.

He received his doctorate from Old Dominion University, his master’s from Virginia State University and his bachelor’s degree from Michigan State University.

The formal inauguration will be followed by a dinner and dance on the Christanna Campus in Alberta beginning at 6 p.m.

The group named Uniquely Different Jazz Band be will featured at the event.

Tickets for the event can be purchased through Oct. 23 at $30 per person.

Proceeds from the event will benefit Dr. Roberts’ “It Takes a Village” Scholarship Fund of the SVCC Foundation.

For more information or to purchase tickets for the event, contact Mary Jane Elkins at (434) 949-1051 or Donna Worley at (434) 949-1008.