LTCC Graduation to Celebrate Student Achievement, Bond With Community

Lake Tahoe Community College’s 38th Annual Commencement Ceremony is Friday, June 28 at 6 p.m. in the LTCC Gymnasium.

This year’s graduation ceremony theme is “One College, One Community,” to showcase the College’s strong commitment to and the close bond it has with the diverse communities that LTCC educates, supports, and is supported by.

The entire community is warmly invited to attend the ceremony and cheer on the graduating students. This year, 140 students will receive their AA degrees from LTCC; 42 of them are graduating with honors, and 6 are graduating with highest honors. No tickets are required to attend. Following the ceremony, a reception with light refreshments will be served just outside the Gymnasium.

This year’s commencement address will be delivered by Dr. Rita Cepeda, a 30-year veteran of the California community college system. Since 2010, Dr. Cepeda has been chancellor of the San Jose-Evergreen college district, a two-campus district serving 40,000 students. Prior to that she served as president of San Diego Mesa College, and before that was president of Santa Ana College.

During Friday’s ceremony, local business owners and former LTCC students Bob and Tammy Hassett will receive the 2013 Distinguished Alumni award. The Hassetts are the owners of the Camp Richardson Historic Resort and Marina, along with Action Watersports.

The Hassetts’ success started at LTCC, where Bob served as Student Council President before graduating with an AA degree in Business. Tammy Hassett was also an LTCC student, taking culinary and business classes before becoming a successful business owner herself.

To mark the recent passing of several members of LTCC’s extended college family, this year’s graduation ceremony will be dedicated to the memories of Carl Young, Sue Huff, and Kathy “Ms. B” Bluethman. Carl taught extreme weather, meteorology and geology at LTCC, and was honored at Graduation 2010 with the Distinguished Alumni Award.

He died in May while chasing tornadoes in Oklahoma. Sue started working at LTCC in 1988 as an administrative assistant, and stayed with the college for 19 years before retiring in 2007. She passed away at home on May 21st. Kathy had a long history as an educator, coach, and trainer in South Lake Tahoe. She was a volleyball instructor and personal trainer at LTCC for the past 15 years. After a long battle with breast cancer, she died at home on May 29th.

For more information about the graduation ceremony, seating, parking, and other general questions, please visit the college’s website at www.ltcc.edu. Or, contact Julie Booth at (530) 541-4660 ext. 210, or email Julie at Booth@ltcc.edu.