MACON, Ga. – Chpryelle “CeCe” Carr, daughter of Malvin and Shirley Carr of Lawrenceville, Ga., is one of two students to receive the highest honor Mercer University bestows on a graduating student: the Griffin B. Bell Award for Community Service. She was presented a crystal Steuben sculpture during the May 5 commencement of the Mercer University School of Medicine, where she received the doctor of medicine degree.
Named in honor of Mercer alumnus and former United States Attorney General Griffin B. Bell, the award recognizes students who have exemplified the true meaning of community service during their studies, improving the lives of others through their dedication and commitment. The other 2007 award recipient is Steuart H. Botchford, a graduate of Mercer’s College of Liberal Arts.
Dr. Carr demonstrated a steadfast commitment to serving others while completing her medical studies. A 2002 graduate of the University of Georgia, where she was an All-American Scholar and was active in community service, she entered the Mercer University School of Medicine in 2003.
While at Mercer, she served two academic years on the School of Medicine Admissions Committee, where she has conducted interviews and assisted in the selection process of applicants, and the Community Medicine Curriculum Committee. Her community research project was a study of the effects of Georgia’s growing Hispanic population on the future medical curriculum at Mercer’s School of Medicine. Her research was used in a presentation at the School’s 2004 Grassman Rural Medicine Lecture Series.
Several student and community organizations benefited from her initiative, leadership and volunteerism. She served as secretary/treasurer and vice president of the Student National Medical Association and was a delegate to the regional and national conferences.
The organizer of community blood pressure drives, she volunteered at blood and bone morrow registry drives and assisted in implementing a community forum, featuring a panel discussion on HIV/AIDS in Middle Georgia.
In addition to serving as secretary of the State Chapter of the Family Medicine Interest Group in 2003-2004, she was president of the organization and student delegate for the School at the 2004 Congress of Delegates at the Annual Scientific Assembly. At a local elementary school, she implemented the Tar War Program, which teaches the harmful effects of cigarette smoking, and organized a canned food and clothing drive.
She has been a regular volunteer with the Social Outreach Ministry Department of St. Paul AME Church in Macon.
In July, she will be a pediatric resident at the Carolinas Medical Center in Charlotte, N.C. Her plans are to return to Georgia and set up a pediatric practice in a county with a population of 35,000 or less.
About the Griffin B. Bell Award for Community Service:
Judge Griffin B. Bell served as the United States Attorney General in the Administration of President Jimmy Carter. He is a renowned statesman not only in this country, but also around the world. Since graduating from the Mercer Law School some 59 years ago, Judge Bell has given generously of his time and effort in many ways to Mercer University. One of his most valuable contributions to the institution has been as a Mercer Trustee. He is currently serving his fifth term as a Trustee. In 1999, the Association of Governing Boards and Universities presented him with the Distinguished Service Award in Trusteeship. Judge Bell was one of two national honorees selected from the 50,000 members who volunteer their time to higher education. From the $10,000 the University was awarded in Judge Bell’s honor, the Board of Trustees of Mercer University voted to initiate the Griffin B. Bell Award for Community Service.
About Mercer University and the School of Medicine:
Celebrating its 25th year, Mercer University’s School of Medicine was established in 1982 to educate physicians and health professionals to meet the primary care and health care needs of rural and medically underserved areas of Georgia. Students entering Mercer University School of Medicine will be graduated from a school that utilizes a problem-based medical education program that provides early patient care experiences. Such an academic environment fosters the early development of clinical problem-solving and instills in each student an awareness of the place of the basic medical sciences in medical practice. The medical school has two teaching hospitals: the Medical Center of Central Georgia in Macon and Memorial Health University Medical Center in Savannah.
