For Immediate Release:
May 4, 2016
Primary Media Contact:
Sally Voth
Public Relations Specialist
[email protected]
Phone: 540-868-7134
Laurel Ridge Community College will hold its fourth annual TRIO Graduate Celebration on Friday, May 6, at 6:00 p.m. This event will take place in the Corron Community Development Center at the Middletown Campus and will recognize 41 members of the TRIO Student Support Services program who are graduating in the 2015-16 academic year.
The TRIO Student Support Services program is a federal grant program funded through the U.S. Department of Education which serves 160 low-income, first-generation students and students with disabilities each year. TRIO Student Support Services provides one-on-one academic advising, tutoring, transfer planning, career services, financial aid assistance, and financial literacy education.
During the celebration, each graduate will be recognized with a certificate of completion, as well as a Congressional Certificate, presented by a member of Congresswoman Barbara Comstock’s staff. The guest speaker is local attorney and former foster youth, Nancie Williams. She will give the students words of encouragement and advice for their future endeavors.
David Harrison will be recognized as this year’s “Outstanding TRIO Graduate.” Harrison is a 57 year-old student graduating with his Associate Degree of Nursing.
Many TRIO students have experienced significant financial, personal and academic hurdles while pursuing their education. Graduating from Laurel Ridge can be life changing for them. Some are ending the cycle of poverty and becoming the first person in their family to graduate from college.
For more information on the TRIO Student Support Services program, contact Sarah Williams at [email protected] or go to https://laurelridge.edu/current-students/services-for-students/academic-center-for-excellence/trio-student-support-services-program/.
(Pictured: Laurel Ridge staff members at the 2015 TRIO Graduate Celebration with Outstanding Graduate— Cheyenne James—now a student at Old Dominion University in Norfolk)
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Founded in 1970, Laurel Ridge Community College is a multi-campus public institution of higher education. With four locations — Middletown, Warrenton, Luray-Page County and most recently, Vint Hill— the College serves eight localities in the Shenandoah Valley and northern Piedmont regions. The localities are the counties of Clarke, Fauquier, Frederick, Page, Rappahannock, Shenandoah and Warren and the city of Winchester. Laurel Ridge offers more than 75 associate degree and certificate programs in a wide variety of disciplines, in addition to providing access to bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degree programs offered on site by a four-year institution. Laurel Ridge also serves the business community by offering workforce preparation programs for employees and employers. Laurel Ridge serves more than 9,000 unduplicated credit students and more than 11,000 individuals in professional development and business and industry courses annually.
Laurel Ridge Community College (Laurel Ridge) is accredited by the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools to award associate degrees. Contact the Commission on Colleges at 1866 Southern Lane, Decatur, Georgia 30033-4097 or call 404-679-4500 for questions about the accreditation of Laurel Ridge Community College. Laurel Ridge Community College is an equal opportunity institution providing educational and employment opportunities, programs, services, and activities and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, sex, age, religion, disability, national origin, marital status, political affiliation, sexual orientation, or other non-merit factors. Laurel Ridge also prohibits sexual misconduct including sexual violence or harassment.
Laurel Ridge Community College was known as Lord Fairfax Community College until June 2022. For consistency purposes, the college will be referenced as Laurel Ridge going forward.
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