For Immediate Release:
May 11, 2022
Primary Media Contact:
Sally Voth
Public Relations Specialist
[email protected]
Phone: 540-868-7134
Laurel Ridge’s Class of 2022 will celebrate commencement this weekend. It comes 50 years after the college’s first commencement in 1972.
This year’s commencement marks the first return to in-person ceremonies since 2019. There were virtual graduations in 2020 and 2021, with last year adding a popular diploma walk. And, this year, commencement is taking place outdoors on the Middletown Campus for the first time in more than a decade.
There are nearly 1,000 members of the Class of 2022. By jurisdiction, they include:
• Clarke County –40
• Fauquier County – 166
• Frederick County – 228
• Page County – 37
• Rappahannock County – 17
• Shenandoah County – 106
• Warren County – 87
• City of Winchester – 114
To make the event more manageable, a commencement ceremony dedicated to graduates in the health professions is being held at 2 p.m. on Friday, May 13, with the other graduates having their ceremony at 11 a.m. on Saturday, May 14.
Included among this year’s graduates are 314 dual-enrollment students – those students who were enrolled in Laurel Ridge while still in high school. Of those, 241 are Governor’s Scholars who have earned either an associate degree or a certificate in general education. The remaining 73 are receiving career studies certificates.
There will be various celebrations focusing on different groups of graduates throughout the week, including a dual-enrollment ceremony on Thursday, May 12, and a TRIO graduation dinner and reception, also on Thursday. The TRIO program provides wraparound services for students who are first-generation college students, low-income or have a disability.
Following Friday’s commencement for health professions graduates, there will be pinning ceremonies for students graduating from the registered nursing, surgical technology and medical laboratory technology programs.
For more commencement information, visit laurelridge.edu/commencement.
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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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