Melissa Thrash Carleton (right) of Union is a recent addition to the East Central Community College Foundation Board. Carleton, shown with ECCC President Dr. Phil A. Sutphin, serves as deputy attorney general for the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians. A 1986 honor graduate and salutatorian of Decatur High School, Carleton continued her education at ECCC, graduating with honors in 1988. While at ECCC, the Presidential Scholar was named to the Hall of Fame and was selected HEADWAE (Higher Education Appreciation Day; Working Toward Academic Excellence) Student of the Year. She was also president of Theta Xi chapter of Phi Theta Kappa, the international honor society for two-year colleges. She is a 1990 magna cum laude graduate of the University of Mississippi, where she was a member of various honor societies. She also graduated in 1993 from the University of Mississippi School of Law and was editor of The Advocate. She is married to Robert W. Carleton III. They have a son, Robert W. “Hob” Carleton IV.