Effingham, IL-(Effingham Radio)- Lake Land College will honor graduates at the annual Commencement Ceremony Friday, May 13 at 6 p.m. in the Field House.
More than 750 students will receive degrees and certificates this spring, with more than 280 graduates expected to participate in the ceremony.
Alumnus Achievement Award recipients Todd and Ali Rauch will be recognized at the event for their continued efforts to make a difference in their professions and community. This same enthusiasm, commitment and desire to make a difference led Todd Rach and then Ali Vice to succeed as student leaders at Lake Land College have propelled them to success in their careers.
The Rauchs met at Lake Land in 2006 when they served on the Student Government Association and were instrumental in the building of the Lake Land College Fitness Center. Ali, a first-generation college student, was also a member of Phi Theta Kappa, and Todd served as the 2006-2007 Student Trustee. They are the only couple to have married on campus.
Today, Todd Rauch is a city council member for the City of Opelika, in Alabama, serving his constituents as their elected representative in the legislative branch of Opelika’s Municipal Government, which is the policy-making body. He was recently named to Business Alabama’s Movers & Shapers list, as was Ali in 2021.
Ali serves as president & CEO of the Opelika Chamber of Commerce, a membership organization that acts as the voice for business for almost 20,000 employees across Opelika and the surrounding area. Most recently, she led the Opelika Chamber to join the top 3% of Chambers nationwide, earning a 5-star accreditation for their sound business practices through the US Chamber of Commerce.
Both Todd and Ali continue to be involved in higher education and advocate for their local community colleges by sharing their impactful experiences at Lake Land College.
ICCTA Outstanding Full-time Faculty Member Award Recipient Bambi Jones will also be recognized at the event. Taking the initiative to develop new strategies in teaching math, Jones understood that the completion of developmental math sequences can be a barrier to retention and success for community college students. To overcome these challenges, she worked to establish Math Literacy at Lake Land College, which is leading the transitional math course initiative between the college and district high schools. Her leadership with the implementation of co-requisites math courses at Lake Land College developed into a model that the Illinois Community College Board has since recognized as a best practice.
Jones implements instructional strategies to help students learn subject material that many find difficult or intimidating. She has incorporated project-based learning into her statistics course in a way that engages students and helps them to understand the relevance of the material.
“Undoubtedly, Ms. Jones is an extremely valuable asset to Lake Land College, and we want to honor her commitment to our students, faculty, staff and community,” Lake Land College Board of Trustees Chair Mike Sullivan said.
On the day of commencement, the doors of the Field House will open at 4:30 p.m. with overflow seating available in the Luther Student Center Theater. Handicap accessible seating will be available in both locations. Parking on campus is free with the parking lots A and B being closest to the Field House.
Lake Land College will stream graduation live on Friday, May 13, 2022, at 6 p.m. (CST) at lakelandcollege.edu. The streaming must be viewed on a Microsoft windows operating system.
The ceremony will also air on WEIU-TV YOUR 13 on May 21 at 9 a.m. and 7 p.m., May 22 at 12 p.m., May 24 at 7 p.m., and May 30 at 6 a.m. as well as on Mediacom MC 22 at a time to be announced.
Photos taken by Marketing & Public Relations will be available for download at lakelandcollege.edu and on social media.
For more information, visit lakelandcollege.edu/admissions/graduation.
Lake Land College District 517, located in Mattoon, Illinois, serves the second largest community college district in the state, with a total population of 189,869. The Lake Land College district comprises all or part of 15 counties and 31 public school districts in rural east central Illinois. Counties served by Lake Land College include: Christian, Clark, Clay, Coles, Crawford, Cumberland, Douglas, Edgar, Effingham, Fayette, Jasper, Macon, Montgomery, Moultrie and Shelby.
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