Holly Brand performs for students attending the PTK Regional Honors Institute.

Some 110 community college students and advisers from Mississippi and Louisiana got a closer look at Meridian and Meridian Community College as they participated in the Phi Theta Kappa Regional Honors Institute.

PTK is the international academic honor society for community and junior college students.

The conference was held in various venues around Meridian. Still, the highlight was when the participants gathered in the PTK Courtyard of Scholars on the MCC campus to watch MCC alumna Holly Brand perform three songs and give a motivational talk. Brand was a finalist on Season 23 of the national television show “The Voice.”