GTCC Newsletter - July 2015

GTCC SUMMER NEWSLETTER • JULY 2015

Commencement

Guilford Tech graduates largest class in college’s history

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uilford Technical Community College’s Class of 2015 made history on May 7 as the college’s largest graduating class. Approximately 1,412 students graduated this academic term (2014-2015). Nearly 1,000 graduates participated in GTCC’s 49th Commencement at the Greensboro Coliseum. In his lively keynote speech to the Class of 2015, Dr. Anthony Brown, interim vice president of Student Support Services at GTCC, quoted inspiring words from Thomas Edison to Taylor Swift. But the heart of Brown’s message to the Class of 2015 was: “Don’t miss your opportunity.” The opportunities students receive at GTCC, he said, are something that many students would not receive at a four-year institution. “Those students also receive a chance — a chance to continue your education, a chance to move into a career, and a chance to make new friends. … It’s that chance, that opportunity, that faith that will keep you going in life. … Opportunity is that single petal that comes from a bed of thorns. It’s the sun that you see peeking through the clouds, when you are deep in the valley.” There is no easy path to success without hard work and failure, Brown

said. And along the way there will always be naysayers and cynics, “but you have to ignore them. Stay focused because you have bigger plans. Get into your Taylor Swift mode and ‘shake them off, shake them off!’” Joseph Partin, outgoing Faculty Association president, emphasized in his address to the graduates the concept of sharing. Borrowing an example from pop culture, Partin pondered the idea of a world without “Sesame Street” and the Muppets. “What would have happened 46 years ago if Jim Henson and his collaborators didn’t get together and share something educational and fun with all of us,” Partin asked. “… As faculty, we have one more challenge for you: Start thinking about ways you can use your degrees and share your collective knowledge to work with and help others.” People like Jim Henson and his collaborators created something special that continues to affect us today, he said. “Imagine for a moment if Jim Henson would’ve kept Kermit and the gang to himself, and was unwilling to

share, how different our lives might be,” Partin said. “Changing the world for the greater well-being is something we should aspire to, and hopefully we can make this happen. But this can only be accomplished if you are willing to share what you’ve learned.” During the ceremony, several graduates were recognized for their outstanding traits of leadership, good citizenship and academic excellence. Read more. “It’s that chance, that opportunity, that faith that will keep you going in life.” – Dr. Anthony Brown, keynote speaker

GTCC President Dr. Randy Parker and President’s Medal recipient Elizabeth Pucel.

Dr. Randy Parker, GTCC Board Chair Jarvis Harris and Teaching Innovation Award recipient Joseph Badick. (Carla Kucinski/GTCC.)