OCC ready to announce Citizen of the Year

Orange Coast College’s Citizen of the Year is expected to be announced any day now.

In fact, a person has been chosen, and the college is just waiting to hear back from him or her, said spokesman Doug Bennett, who’s keeping the selection a secret.

Each year, the Citizen of the Year winner delivers a few words at the OCC commencement in May. The tradition dates to 1951.

“The president of the college introduces the person, reads a proclamation and then the person has the opportunity to say a few words,” Bennett said.

Last year, Mary Lynn Bergman-Rallis won the recognition for her passion for early childhood development and education.

The year prior Dr. Paul Selecky, a member of the Hoag Hospital Sleep Disorders Center since its opening more than 14 years ago, earned the honor.

As medical director of the sleep center, Selecky was instrumental in the recent expansion that nearly doubled the size of his facility.

Past honorees include former state Sen. Jack A. Scott, the current chancellor of California Community Colleges and a strong advocate of gun control after his son, Adam, was accidentally shot while at a party.