CK
Cody Kolva
  • Class of 2012
  • Montgomery, VT

Cody Kolva Graduates from the Community College of Vermont

2012 Jun 13

Cody Kolva of Montgomery, VT, received an associate degree from the Community College of Vermont (CCV) on June 2, 2012.

This year 587 students received associate degrees, the largest graduating class in the College's history. The graduates:

• ranged in age from 19 to 71

• 63 percent were first-generation college attenders

• 29 were military veterans

• students from all 14 Vermont counties, eight other U.S. states, and from Bosnia-Herzegovina, Canada, Costa-Rica, Hungary, Lithuania, Moldova, Nepal, Senegal, and the United Kingdom received degrees.

Vermont Governor Peter Shumlin visited with students before the ceremony and joined CCV President Joyce Judy in leading the processional of graduates and dignitaries. Bari and Peter Dreissigacker, co-founders of Concept2 Rowing of Morrisville, received the 2012 CCV Community Service award.

The Honorable Denise R. Johnson, the first woman to be appointed a justice of the Vermont Supreme Court, delivered the keynote address. Citing the preamble to the Constitution of the United States, she urged graduates to use the intellectual tools they had refined and enhanced in college to help the nation: "We are on a journey together that requires 'we the people,' with all the civic virtue we can muster, to make it work."

Patrick Magnus, the class of 2012 student speaker, graduated with an Associate in Liberal Studies and is currently pursuing a Bachelor's degree through the External Degree Program at Johnson State College. He urged his classmates to take what they have learned in the classroom and bring it into their communities: "...continue to engage, think critically, and see versions of yourself in the people around you. ...keep yourself involved and do not allow yourself to simply go through the motions."

The Community College of Vermont serves nearly 14,000 students each year through 12 academic centers throughout the state and comprehensive online course offerings. For more information, visit www.ccv.edu.