ELYRIA — As he looked out across the crowd of 400 or so graduates Saturday morning, U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown said he saw stories written on the faces of each one.

Seated in front of Brown inside Ewing Field House at Lorain County Community College was Dylan Atherton of Lorain, an Iraq war veteran who returned to school to start a career as a police officer.

There was also Godrich Machuta of Cleveland, who earned an associate of applied science degree to help advance his career in nuclear medicine.

Brenda Rausch of Westlake also wore a gown and mortarboard, and proudly moved her tassel to the left after receiving a business degree in computer information systems.

There were hundreds more, and Brown’s words reached out to each one.

“So many of you have full-time jobs. So many of you are raising children. So many of you have part-time jobs,” Brown said at LCCC’s 45th annual commencement. “You’re graduating today from LCCC because you chose to make a path for yourself, and many of you are the first in your family to do that.”

Brown told the graduates that over the past 15 months, he’s heard the same complaint from employers: It’s tough to find qualified, educated employees to fill the ranks.

He urged the students to make a difference in the workplace and consider running for public office, especially women and minorities.

“America needs you,” he said.

Student Senate President Marcus Madison also issued a challenge to his fellow graduates.

“Now that you have received your degree, what will you do with it?” he said.

He told the graduates they have a chance to help build a global economy, put an end to war and save the environment.

LCCC President Roy Church conferred associate’s degrees to 1,090 graduates.

The University Partnership program awarded bachelor’s and master’s degrees to 323 graduates attending Bowling Green State University, University of Akron, Kent State University, University of Toledo, Youngstown State University, Ashland University, Ohio University and Cleveland State University — all through LCCC.

Church said that LCCC served 14,000 students this year, and on Thursday, enrolled its 300,000th student since opening in 1963.

On Saturday, he said he was honored to award associate of arts degrees to the 30 Elyria high school students forming LCCC’s first Early College class.

All of the Early College High School students were the first in their families to attend college. They attended LCCC tuition-free through grants from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the Knowledge Works Foundation.

“When I first began the program, I was not ready to grow up,” Early College graduate Madeline Dotson said. “As I grew and matured, so did my work and grades. I realized how important an education is and finally began to work hard to reach my goals

Dodson achieved a 3.56 GPA and was nominated to the All-Ohio Awards program. Now she’s planning to attend Cleveland State University to study special education.

Early College graduate Laura Evans said her professors helped get her on track to earn a master’s degree by the time she turns 21.

“Even after I was done with a class, teachers would find me and demand to know the progress I was making. It’s a good thing because it let me know that someone saw my potential and that they believed in me,” she said.

Six other area high school students will graduate this month from LCCC with associate’s degrees — all before receiving high school diplomas. They participated in the college’s Post-Secondary Enrollment Options program.

“My high school was not challenging me as much as I wanted them to,” said Jenna Mann from Firelands High School. “I knew that the PSEO program would be the perfect challenge for me. I knew that I would be learning a lot more at LCCC. Plus, it was free.”

Mann plans to attend The Ohio State University with a double major in political science and journalism.

Contact Jason Hawk at 329-7148 or jhawk@chroniclet.com.

 

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