CMC celebrates graduates of Roaring Fork Valley campuses
This story appeared in the May 6, 2024 edition of the Aspen Daily News.
By Rich Allen, Aspen Daily News staff writer
More than 150 graduates of Colorado Mountain College’s Roaring Fork Valley campuses tossed their caps at the Outdoor Leadership Center and Field House at the Spring Valley campus on Saturday.
The final and general commencement was the third of the weekend for valley recipients. A total of 421 total graduates and certificate recipients — a sharp jump locally that also was reflective of the college’s 11 total campuses — were recognized.
Before he introduced the keynote speaker, CMC President and CEO selectee Matt Gianneschi said he was going off script by asking graduates to stand first if they grew up locally, then if they were the first in their family to graduate, then if they were raised in a home that spoke a language other than English, then if they were a parent.
Gianneschi — who will be replacing longtime President and CEO Carrie Hauser when she steps down in August — then introduced keynote speaker Mario Carrera, CEO of Colorado Latino Leadership, Advocacy and Research Organization and an advisory board member for CMC’s Isaacson School for Communication, Arts and Media.
“As the class of 2024, your journey has not been an enviable one,” Carrera said in his speech. “The hardships you have endured and the challenges you have faced over the last several years have been like no other class in recent memory, and I don’t need to tell you that. But I will submit to you that that is what makes you great and in the future will make you even greater.”
According to a news release, the CMC system of 11 campuses graduated 1,554 students, an increase of 23.5% from the previous year. Locally, the number jumped to 421 from 336, an increase of 25.3%.
The campuses of Aspen, Carbondale, Glenwood Springs and Spring Valley collectively issued 47 bachelor degrees across eight fields, according to the commencement program. They issued 179 associate’s degrees.
The graduates included some of the first receiving bachelor’s degrees in human services — four were doled out — and three local high schoolers received associate degrees via concurrent enrollment.
Friday saw the commencement of the Colorado Law Enforcement Training Academy commencement and Saturday morning saw the nursing program’s commencement and nurse pinning.
The school graduated nine students with bachelor’s degrees in nursing, two associate’s degrees in medical assistance and 18 associate’s degrees in nursing.
In Saturday’s general commencement, education graduate Heidy Cardenas was recognized as the outstanding bachelor’s student and veterinary technology graduate Lacey Seago was the recipient of the David Allen outstanding associate’s degree.
Nathan Thompson, recipient of a bachelor’s degree in sustainability studies, was selected to give the student address.
“I’ll begin by appreciating how lucky we all are to have access to education and the privilege to complain about minor inconveniences like homework,” Thompson said. “This reminds me of all the reasons that we have to be grateful as we graduate from CMC. We should be grateful for getting to learn, live and play in a beautiful place like this and for all the people at this small college who filled multiple roles to help us succeed, and to our families who have supported us throughout our lives and to each other for making our time here more fun.
“But most importantly, thanks to ourselves for being resilient and not giving up. Everyone has overcome their own distinct form of struggle to make it to this point.”