College Prepares to Celebrate 76th Commencement

(Lamar, Colorado; April 24, 2015) Lamar Community College is preparing for several end-of-year celebrations including the Nurse Pinning and the 76th Annual Commencement ceremony.

Lamar Community College will host its 76th Annual Commencement on Saturday, May 2, 2015, at the LCC Wellness Center.  280 degree or certificate-seeking students are eligible to walk in this year’s commencement ceremony.  This includes fall 2014 graduates as well as spring and summer 2015 candidates for graduation. The ceremony will begin promptly at 10:00 am.  No tickets are required for admittance.

Each year, students play a significant role in the commencement celebration.  “When you want to succeed as bad as you want to breathe, then you’ll be successful,” by Eric Thomas was selected by the Student Government as this year’s quote.  Khadijah Vigil and Miroslava Rangel have been selected as the class student speakers.  Shayne Ybarra will give the invocation as well as perform the National Anthem.

The College has invited Jen Worth to be the keynote speaker for the event.  Worth is the Interim Associate Vice President of Workforce and Economic Development with the American Association of Community Colleges (AACC).  She focuses on empowering community colleges to effectively collaborate with industry, workforce boards, economic development entities, and other community organizations to improve the prosperity of individual workers, businesses, and communities.

Worth has managed national foundation and industry sponsored initiatives as well as an annual event called the Workforce Development Institute that draws approximately 700 colleges from around the country each year.  She spends half her time in Washington, D.C. in heels and the other half in steel-toe boots on plant floors.  She has two loud dogs, a firefighter husband, and two young sons.

Outside of speaking at this commencement, Worth has been to Lamar Community College twice in her life and has been touting Lamar as a center of innovation in just about every speech she gives to other colleges and industry partners.  She managed the Wal-Mart grant that supported the Horse Training & Management program arena and she stands ready to support the college, the faculty, and every student who comes out of Lamar, as best she can, for as long as she is standing.

The College will also host its annual Nursing Pinning at 10:00am on Friday, May 1, at the Wellness Center.  27 graduates from the college’s Level I (Practical Nursing) and Level II (Associate Degree in Nursing/Registered Nurse) programs will be pinned.  Two graduating students, Kelsi-Jo Greenfield and Chance Scott-Burke, have been selected to speak at the event.

The pinning ceremony is a time-honored nursing school tradition in which the students will participate in the lighting of the Florence Nightingale Lamp.  Then a registered nurse that the student has selected will place a special pin on his or her uniform while a faculty member reads a card of thanks that the graduate has prepared.

To reduce congestion during either ceremony, friends and family members are encouraged to take photos from their seats.  Additionally, graduates and their families may choose to take photos before entering the building or after the ceremonies have concluded. Receptions for graduates and families will follow both celebrations.

Family members may also choose to view either the Nursing Pinning or the Commencement ceremony via live web streaming.  A link will be available from the LCC homepage at www.lamarcc.edu.

Parking will be available in the Wellness Center parking lot. Overflow parking will be available in the large student parking lots north of Todd‐Burch Residence Hall, the Betz Technology Center, and the staff parking lot. No parking will be allowed in the borrow ditches west of the Wellness Center.

For more information about Commencement, contact Lamar Community College at 336.1590 or information@lamarcc.edu. More details regarding the Nursing Pinning can be obtained at 336.1594 or nursing@lamarcc.edu.