{"id":115821,"date":"2023-01-30T22:05:17","date_gmt":"2023-01-31T03:05:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/?p=115821"},"modified":"2023-01-30T22:05:17","modified_gmt":"2023-01-31T03:05:17","slug":"northampton-community-colleges-winter-commencement-2023","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/?p=115821","title":{"rendered":"Northampton Community College’s Winter Commencement 2023"},"content":{"rendered":"

BETHLEHEM, PA<\/strong>\u00a0–\u00a0\u201c<\/strong>Class of 2023, I commend you for your hard work, grit and determination that has led you this moment today, your graduation,” these sentiments from Northampton Community College (NCC)\u00a0President, Dr. David A. Ruth.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Loved ones, esteemed guests, and NCC faculty and staff gathered in the Bethlehem Campus Spartan Center to honor NCC\u2019s Winter Class of 2023. The commencement ceremony was held on a sunny January 28, foreshadowing a bright future ahead for these graduates.<\/p>\n

More than 516 students, 26 with a perfect 4.0 GPA, graduated in the winter class, many of whom graced the stage as faculty and administration who taught and mentored them watched with pride. The diverse group of graduates ranged in age from 18 to 72, hailing from Tennessee to Japan and many places in between.<\/p>\n

Ruth shared stories of several graduates, highlighting their achievements and perseverance to reach graduation day \u2014 students like Drake Brackett, a leader on the Spartans soccer team with hopes of becoming a police officer, Judy Ortiz, who battled addiction and breast cancer as she made her way to the finish line, Hector Hernandez, the first blind person to graduate from the massage therapy program, and Katrina Danyluk, a multi-media major who is also a stunt performer!<\/p>\n

Winter Class of 2023 graduate and this commencement\u2019s student speaker,\u00a0Lauren Harrison,<\/strong>\u00a0acknowledged the strength of her peers. \u201cRelationships are hard, work is hard, school is hard, life is hard, but look at what you\u2019ve done.\u201d She took a minute to ask her fellow graduates to congratulate the people they were sitting by in the audience. Then, she told them to think of someone who\u2019s been a mentor or by their side through this journey, and she said, \u201cshow gratitude for those who encouraged and supported you.\u201d Lastly, but most importantly, she said \u201ccongratulate yourself!\u201d recognizing how important it is to \u201clook in the mirror and see your success.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dr. Jim Von Schilling,\u00a0<\/strong>English professor, talked about how students can apply life lessons to their community as they go out into the world. \u201cA community college brings together diverse people working towards common goals, to learn, achieve and succeed. We\u2019re all in on it here, students, faculty and staff. No one wants to hold anyone back. Our differences are treated in a positive way, as points to discuss and learn from. Let\u2019s listen, accept, support, encourage and assist in our community because that\u2019s what you learned to do here.\u201d<\/p>\n

Commencement speaker,\u00a0Kassie Hilgert,<\/strong>\u00a0CEO and President of ArtsQuest, was full of practical advice for the graduates. She wanted the graduates to know that, \u201cTalent is not the sole indicator that determines success. The secret is persistence and passion. There\u2019s a name for this, and it\u2019s called grit.\u201d She told the audience that education gives you skills, but the effort you expend matters more.<\/p>\n

After Hilgert addressed the audience,\u00a0Nicole Dusovic,<\/strong>\u00a0studying communication design at NCC, received the President\u2019s Commencement Scholarship in Kassie Hilgert\u2019s honor.<\/p>\n

At the closing of the ceremony, graduates were welcomed into our prestigious alumni association by\u00a0Madeline Collis Falcone,<\/strong>\u00a0assistant director of events & engagement at United Way of the Lehigh Valley, and a member of the Class of 2010.\u00a0Falcone officially welcomed the class of 2023 to the alumni association as they shifted their tassels from the right to the left side of their caps.<\/p>\n

Nursing graduates<\/a>\u00a0were also pinned earlier that day before commencement.<\/p>\n

About Northampton Community College<\/strong><\/p>\n

With an enduring commitment to the regional community it serves and a focus on student success, Northampton Community College has developed a reputation as an institution of extraordinary distinction, earning accolades at the state and national levels for innovative programs, outstanding faculty and impressive student achievements. It counts among its successful alumni a four-time Pulitzer Prize winner and an Academy Award winning director as well as a host of CEOs, presidents, and leaders of business and industry. Today, Northampton Community College has locations in Bethlehem, Southside Bethlehem, and Monroe County, serving 30,000 students each year from 53 counties, 42 countries and 25 states. For more information, or to apply, please visit\u00a0www.northampton.edu<\/a>.\u00a0Follow NCC’s President on Twitter\u00a0@NCCPresDaveRuth<\/a>, and follow the College on TikTok\u00a0@NorthamptonCC<\/a>\u00a0and on Instagram\u00a0@NorthamptonCommCollege<\/a>. Like us on Facebook at\u00a0Northampton Community College<\/a>.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Information provided to TVL by:
\nNorthampton Community College
\n3835 Green Pond Road, Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, 18020
\nhttps:\/\/www.northampton.edu\/<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

BETHLEHEM, PA\u00a0–\u00a0\u201cClass of 2023, I commend you for your hard work, grit and determination that has led you this moment today, your graduation,” these sentiments from Northampton Community College (NCC)\u00a0President, … Continue reading Northampton Community College’s Winter Commencement 2023<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":114454,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[69,5738,482],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-115821","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-in-the-valley","category-northampton-county","category-press-release-2"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/nccc.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/115821"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=115821"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/115821\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/114454"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=115821"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=115821"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=115821"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}