The Blue Ribbon Medals of Excellence for Student and Alumni Success are presented by the college at graduation ceremonies to celebrate and honor the partnerships formed between the institution and successful alumni, community members and/or businesses dedicated to the furtherance of KC’s mission.
The following people are recipients of the award at graduation ceremonies on May 8, 2026.
Dr. Wynn Rosser is the Commissioner of Higher Education and CEO of the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board (THECB), where he provides statewide leadership and oversees higher education budget and policy for the world’s eighth-largest economy. With a background in cultivating cross-sector collaboration, Dr. Rosser has extensive experience partnering with others to advance shared goals for education across Texas. Through these experiences, he brings deep knowledge and commitment to advancing Texas higher education and the goals of the state’s strategic plan for higher education, Building a Talent Strong Texas...
Before joining THECB, Dr. Rosser spent almost two decades in philanthropic leadership, serving as president and CEO of the T.L.L. Temple Foundation, a family foundation focused on issues facing rural East Texas, and as chief executive of the Greater Texas Foundation, a foundation that focuses on improving postsecondary access and success. Prior to that, he worked for 14 years at Texas A&M University in faculty, staff, and senior administrative roles.
Rosser graduated from Kilgore High School, and he holds an associate degree from Kilgore College. Additionally, Rosser earned bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral degrees from Texas A&M University. He completed emergency medical technician (EMT) training through the School of EMS and is a nationally registered and Texas state-licensed EMT.
A native of rural Texas, Commissioner Rosser and his wife come from multigenerational rural families and are raising three children.
Saudia Roundtree is a former collegiate basketball player and coach whose career began at Kilgore College, where she played for the Lady Rangers from 1992 to 1994. A native of Anderson, South Carolina, she was a standout at Westside High School and earned high school All-American honors, including selection to the inaugural WBCA High School All-America Game in 1992. At Kilgore College, Roundtree emerged as one of the nation’s leading junior college players, averaging more than 26 points per game during her sophomore season and earning National Junior College Player of the Year honors in 1994. Her performance at Kilgore led to a transfer to the University of Georgia…
Roundtree played at Georgia from 1994 to 1996, where she helped lead the Lady Bulldogs to the NCAA Final Four in 1995 and to the NCAA championship game in 1996. During her senior season, she received multiple national awards, including the Naismith College Player of the Year, WBCA Player of the Year, and USBWA National Player of the Year honors. She was a consensus All-American, named Southeastern Conference Player of the Year, and later received the 1997 ESPY Award for Best Female College Basketball Player. She completed her collegiate career with more than 1,000 points and set several single-season assist records at Georgia.
Following college, Roundtree was selected first overall in the 1996 American Basketball League draft. She played professionally with the Atlanta Glory and the Nashville Noise and earned ABL All-Star recognition during her career. After her playing career, she transitioned into coaching, beginning as an assistant coach and interim head coach at Morris Brown College.
She served as head women’s basketball coach at North Carolina A&T University from 2002 to 2005 and later held assistant coaching positions at the University of Alabama, the University of Central Florida, Clemson University, and the University of North Texas. Her career includes experience in player development, recruiting, and game preparation at the Division I level.
Bettye Herrington Craddock believes teaching is at the very spirit of her soul. She is proud to be a third generation Texas teacher, following in the footsteps of her grandfather and mother, Helen Whitton Herrington, who taught 37 years, including 15 years teaching journalism and advising the student newspaper at Lufkin High School. A graduate of Lufkin High, Craddock earned a Bachelor’s and Master of Arts from Stephen F. Austin State University. She was editor of SFA’s student newspaper, The Pine Log and later a graduate teaching assistant in the Communication Department. As if destined, she also met her future husband Van in journalism class at SFA…
Her master’s thesis was revised and published as a book, “The Golden Years: The First Half Century of Stephen F. Austin State University,” a written and pictorial history. She worked as an intern for the Texas Daily Newspaper Association at the Lufkin Daily News during the summer of 1970.
She began her career as an English teacher in Longview ISD, where she taught for five years. In 1980, Bettye joined the Kilgore College faculty, teaching English part time for four years before serving as a communications and journalism instructor and newspaper adviser for 29 years. She retired in 2013.
During her tenure, she also served as department chair for five years and co-advised the college magazine and yearbook. She is best known for her work as adviser to The Flare, Kilgore College’s weekly student newspaper.
Under her leadership, along with photography instructor O. Rufus Lovett, The Flare won sweepstakes 47 times in Texas Intercollegiate Press Association and Texas Community College Journalism Association contests. The staff earned more than 1,000 individual awards in writing, design, photography and overall excellence at the state and national levels. In 2010 and 2011, The Flare won the Texas Associated Press Managing Editors award for Best Non-Daily College Newspaper in Texas.
The newspaper also achieved national recognition in 2010 when it was named one of seven community college newspapers in the United States selected as a finalist for the Associated Collegiate Press Newspaper Pacemaker Award. The publication also received multiple Gold Circle Awards from the Columbia Scholastic Press Association and, in 2012, earned the Gold Crown Award for overall excellence.
In 1994, she was named Texas Intercollegiate Press Association Adviser of the Year, and in 1998, she was named a Minnie Stevens Piper Professor, an honor recognizing outstanding college-level teaching in Texas. In 2010, she received the Texas Alpha Delta Kappa Excellence in Education Award, and in 2014, she was inducted into the Texas Community College Journalism Association Distinguished Hall of Honor.
In 2026, she was inducted into the Texas Intercollegiate Press Association Hall of Fame, one of the organization’s highest honors recognizing individuals who have distinguished themselves and upheld the highest standards in journalism and student media.
She shared 51 years of marriage with her husband, Van, a writer, editor and columnist whose journalism career spanned decades at the Longview News-Journal and reflected their shared commitment to communication and storytelling. He died in 2021.
The Craddock family includes son Chris, daughter Cathy Tenner and fiance’ Chris Stinson; and teenage granddaughters Abby and Macy Tenner.
Maxey Cerliano serves as sheriff of Gregg County, a position he has held since 2001. As sheriff, he is the county’s chief law enforcement officer, responsible for courthouse security, supervision of all department operations, operation of the county jail, preparation of the department’s annual budget and coordination with private jail vendors. Cerliano began his law enforcement career with the Kilgore Police Department in 1978 as a patrol officer. He advanced through the ranks, serving as a detective sergeant, lieutenant, captain and assistant chief before leaving the department in 2000…
He holds an associate degree in police science and criminal justice from Kilgore College and is a graduate of Longview High School.
Cerliano has completed more than 3,800 hours of in-service training, with an emphasis on criminal investigation and police administration. His professional recognitions include the Tom Tellepsen Award from the Sheriffs’ Association of Texas, leadership awards from the East Texas Peace Officers Association and honors from the Kilgore Police Department, including Supervisor of the Year and Investigator of the Year.
He has been active in numerous professional and community organizations, including service on advisory boards, nonprofit boards and regional committees. He is a lifetime member and past president of the Sheriffs’ Association of Texas and has served on boards related to criminal justice, health care and community development across East Texas.
Cerliano was born May 21, 1958, in Longview. He is married to Cathy, a longtime employee of Gregg County Juvenile Probation, and has one adult son.
