Schools

Community College Commencement Features Speech by Outgoing President

President Martha Smith is set to deliver a keynote address at this year's commencement on Thursday night.

Anne Arundel Community College's 50th commencement will begin at 7 p.m. Thursday, and President Martha A. Smith, who will be retiring this year, is set to deliver a keynote address.

This year is set to be the largest class ever at AACC, with 2,137 degrees and certificates being awarded. Smith will speak to an estimated 600 graduates and their families on Thursday at the graduation ceremony on the community college's Arnold campus.

Smith is set to retire in August after serving 17 years as president. The will begin her tenure immediately afterward.

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This year's class valedictorian is Michael Jeffrey Fahrner, of Riva, who will receive an Associate of Science degree in the engineering transfer program. The Presidential Scholar is Mary Kathryn Brunk, of Crownsville, who is earning an Associate of Science degree in the science and premedical professional program with a concentration in biology.

The commencement will likely create mass congestion along Ritchie Highway on Thursday evening, between 5-10 p.m. Area motorists are urged to avoid travel if possible near college entrances.

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Some details about the ceremony, including information on parking, are included in a press release from AACC:

College officials urge graduates’ guests to arrive on campus by 6 p.m. to allow time to park and be seated in the tent on the Athletic Practice Field. Only those with guest tickets may sit in the tent. When guest seats fill in the tent, overflow guests will be directed to the air-conditioned simulcast site at the Robert E. Kauffman Theater in the Pascal Center for Performing Arts. Access is through the Student Union.

Guests with limited mobility are encouraged to arrive early enough to park in the D lot beside Siegert Field. Shuttle vehicles also will travel through parking lots A, B and C to pick up guests with limited mobility who line up at the blue emergency phone towers in the lots. Overflow guest parking is on the west side of campus in lots E, F, G and H. Campus maps are online at www.aacc.edu/locationsandmaps/maps.

The ceremony will air live on the college website, www.aacc.edu, and via AACC TV, which appears on Anne Arundel County cable TV Channel 95 for Comcast and Broadstripe customers and Channel 35 for Verizon customers. The college will rebroadcast commencement on the channel May 25-July 4. For the schedule, visit www.aacc.edu/aacctv/commreplay.cfm. DVDs of commencement are sold at the AACC Bookstore.

A reception for graduates and their families will take place in the Student Union dining hall following the ceremony. For commencement information, call 410-777-2243.


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