March 10, 2020
East Central Community College’s ninth president Dr. Brent Gregory addresses the campus community following his selection. (EC Photo)
The East Central Community College Board of Trustees today named college alumnus Dr. Brent Gregory as the ninth president of the two-year institution in Decatur, Miss.
Gregory, who currently serves as vice president for student affairs at Southwest Mississippi Community College in Summit, was introduced to the campus community following interviews of finalists by the college’s Board of Trustees at its regularly scheduled meeting on campus.
A native of Nanih Waiya, Gregory is a 1996 graduate of ECCC.
He will assume his duties as president on July 1. Gregory will replace Dr. Billy Stewart, the college’s eighth president who announced his retirement in November 2019 effective on June 30, 2020.
“We are excited to welcome home Dr. Brent Gregory as the ninth president of East Central Community College,” said ECCC Board Chairman Dr. Jimmy Hollingsworth. “When we started this search our goal was to find the best person possible to lead this institution at this point in time, and we believe we have done just that. Dr. Gregory has been preparing to be a college president throughout his career, and we are excited about the future of East Central Community College under his leadership.”
Gregory has been vice president for student services at Southwest Mississippi Community College (SMCC) since 2017, where he is Title IX coordinator and supervises the offices of counseling and recruiting, financial aid, campus housing, campus police, college publications, disability services, and student activities, as well as all judicial affairs of the institution. He is a member of the college’s Administrative Council and Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC) Committee for SMCC Reaccreditation.
He also served seven years as associate vice president for enrollment management at Mississippi Delta Community College in Moorhead, where he was the college registrar and supervised the offices of admissions, counseling and recruiting, financial aid, distance learning and online education, dual enrollment, disability services, and work based learning, as well as the Career Center, Center of Learning and Tutoring Services, and library. He also oversaw Predominately Black Institution program grants in excess of $7 million.
Gregory has also served as an economics instructor, Workforce Investment Act (WIA) coordinator, and director of student life at ECCC, and as an instructor and coach for the Louisville Municipal School District.
After receiving his associate degree from ECCC, Gregory earned his bachelor’s degree in physical education and master’s degree in workforce training and development from the University of Southern Mississippi and his doctorate in community college leadership from Mississippi State University. He is also a graduate of the Education Policy Fellowship Program, Mississippi Community College Leadership Academy, Mississippi Community College Fellowship program, and holds Mississippi Virtual Community College certification.
Gregory is a member of the American Association of Community Colleges, Proposals Task Force Learning Management System for the Mississippi Virtual Community College, Mississippi Association of Community and Junior College’s Legislative Appreciation Planning Committee, and has participated on SACSCOC off-site review teams.
He and his wife, the former Christi Lee, live in Summit with their two daughters, McKinley and Mary Lee. Christi Gregory, a native of Philadelphia, is a 1995 ECCC graduate.
ECCC offers the two-year pre-baccalaureate Associate of Science and Associate of Arts degrees in 17 major academic concentrations, as well as 23 terminal degree programs in healthcare and/or career and technical education, and certificates and training in numerous areas through its workforce development program on the Decatur campus, as well as centers in Carthage, Choctaw, Forest, and Louisville. Founded in 1928, ECCC serves the five-county district of Leake, Neshoba, Newton, Scott, and Winston counties. Visit www.eccc.edu for more information.
New ECCC President Dr. Brent Gregory and his wife, Christi, and children Mary Lee and McKinley. (EC Photo)
