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Record-breaking 208 prepare to graduate at NMC
A total of 208 students will be graduating from the Northern Marianas College this Saturday at the Koblerville Gymnasium.
The ceremony, starting at 4pm, boasts a record number of associate and bachelor’s degree graduates. Last year, the number of graduates totaled 204, which was also record breaking at the time.
“NMC continues to play an increasingly integral role in educating and training our residents,” said NMC president Dr. Carmen Fernandez. “We are very proud of all our graduates who will be joining thousands of other NMC alumni who are business executives, government leaders, community advocates, and other professionals who are making a positive difference.
Saturday’s ceremony would see 171 students graduate with associate degrees and 37 would graduate with bachelor’s degrees.
AA in liberal arts, at 40 graduates, has the most number of graduates at NMC this year while the AA in liberal arts with education emphasis takes second place at 19 graduate. AA in natural resource management and AA in nursing tie with 18 graduates each.
CNMI Teacher of the Year Gerard Van Gils of Kagman High School was selected as keynote speaker based on the recommendations of the graduating class.
Van Gils, affectionately known as Mr. G at KHS, is the Marianas Young Professionals’ Young Professional of the Year. Van Gils founded the Mentor for a Meal program, which has provided hundreds of high school students professional mentorship. He also founded the Million Dollar Scholars, or MDS, a program at KHS that seeks to jumpstart the college careers of students.
The graduation ceremony would also be handing out academic excellence awards to students who have earned a GPA of 4.0, along with the student leadership award and the community service award.
For those unable to attend the graduation, the graduation would be streamed live at www.marianas.edu/graduation2017 from 4pm to 6pm this Saturday.
