LORMAN — Diversity took center stage as Alcorn State University celebrated its 141st commencement convocation Saturday, awarding a record 833 undergraduate and graduate degrees in nursing, education, agriculture and other subjects to students as young as 20 and as old as 69.

Two education graduates exemplified that spirit as well as topped, academically, Alcorn’s class of 2012 — Cameron Jenkins, the 22-year-old black valedictorian from rural Ruth, Miss., and Miriam Timmons, the 51-year-old white salutatorian from Natchez.

Both graduated with perfect 4.0 grade-point averages. Jenkins was named valedictorian based on his accumulated credits during his four years at Alcorn; Timmons enrolled after earning an associate’s degree in 2009 at Copiah-Lincoln Community College in Natchez.

“We are actually good friends,” Timmons said, the two exchanging smiles and hugs before the convocation.

“One of the most significant things about Alcorn State University is the concept of family,” Jenkins said, as Timmons nodded agreement. “It’s not just a spoken concept here. It’s a concept in action, from the gate-greeters to the people in offices. From the time you enter campus it’s a family — student to student, student to staff, student to faculty.”

ASU President Dr. M. Christopher Brown said school officials are proud of its diversity, especially as represented by Jenkins and Timmons.

“It speaks to the breadth of what is here at Alcorn,” Brown said. “Alcorn has been transforming itself for some time. It’s as if we have been pregnant with possibility. What Mississippi and the world are seeing in our salutatorian and valedictorian, our nursing, business and other classes, and our (recent) award for the HBCU of the year, is us giving birth to all of what southwest Mississippi has produced on this campus.”

Founded in 1871, Alcorn was the nation’s first state-supported institution for the higher education of African- Americans. It is one of three historically black colleges and universities in Mississippi, along with Jackson State University and Mississippi Valley University, and as of 2011 was the only one of the three that had collected a share of settlement money from the Ayers decision, a ruling related to the racial composition of Mississippi colleges and universities in a court case originally filed against the state in 1975.

Ayers represents just a minimum standard, said Brown. Even if it “went away,” ASU would be committed to enrolling an increasingly diverse student body and earning a global reputation for excellence, he said.

The ASU class of 2012 comprised 75.8 percent women and 24.2 percent men; 86 percent blacks and 14 percent white, Asian, Hispanic and other ethnic groups; 88 percent Mississippi residents, with 14 other states and six foreign countries represented; and had an average age of 29, Dr. Samuel White, executive vice president and provost told a capacity crowd.

Nearly 7,400 people attended the convocation, in the Davey L. Whitney gymnasium with live broadcast feeds into three packed overflow sites, Brown said.

In his valedictory address, Jenkins said his becoming a scholar was “truly amazing,” but the result of hard work and “standing on the promise” of education.

“This promise simply states that if you do your best, give your best, prepare to be the best, then you shall receive the best in return,” he said.

An ordained Baptist preacher since he was 15, Jenkins had the crowd standing and cheering as he completed his speech. The secondary music education major — a tuba player who was section leader in the ASU band — said he plans to teach high school instrumental music.

Timmons home-schooled her two children for 10 years and taught at her Methodist church preschool before enrolling in college for a degree in elementary education.

“Being a non-traditional student is not an easy task,” she said in her commencement speech. “I can’t tell you how many times I had to fight the urge to give up. God gave me the strength and opened the doors that allowed me to achieve my dream. I am living testimony that you can achieve your dreams despite your age.”

Commencement speakers included honorary doctorate recipients Xernona Clayton, founder and president of the Trumpet Awards Foundation, and Dr. Randal Pinkett, founder and chairman of BCT Partners.

Brown became the 18th and youngest-ever president of Alcorn in January 2011. About 4,300 students attend and 900 faculty members teach at ASU, which comprises the Lorman campus and satellite locations in Vicksburg and Natchez.