December 10th, 2018 by WCBC Radio

Earning 198 degrees, 168 students will move their mortarboard tassels from right to left at Allegany College of Maryland’s 57^th commencement exercise on Friday, December 14. Commencement, which begins at 7:00 p.m. will be held in the Gymnasium with a reception to follow for graduates and guests in College Center.

ACM President Cynthia S. Bambara, Ph.D., will open the program with a welcome to the candidates for graduation and their guests. ACM Board of Trustees Chair Kim B. Leonard will offer greetings.

Julie Conway, Eryn Lindsay and Kimberly Stewart will present the commencement address.

Conway, a Forestry major with a 4.0 GPA, is a Bedford resident and Bedford High School graduate. She was the first student from a two-year college to serve as a Student Executive for the Society of American Foresters. A member of ACM’s Forestry Club and Woodsman Team, she received the 2018 Outstanding Second Year Forestry Student Award, the ACM Foundation’s Roger Pyle Forestry Scholarship and the Bedford County Regional Education Foundation’s Dick M. Rice Memorial Scholarship. Immediately upon graduation, Conway will begin a position in Allegany County with the Maryland Department of Natural Resources. In her address, she will draw on her observations of nature to encourage her fellow graduates to persevere when life seems overwhelming.

Eryn Lindsay, a Secondary Education major with a 3.9 GPA, is Flintstone resident and Brunswick High School graduate. She is Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society member and a Pathways for Success peer mentor. A 2018 Science Education Award recipient, Lindsay will enroll at Frostburg State University to pursue her bachelor’s degree in education with an emphasis in STEM instruction. She will, in her address, discuss the sacrifices that loved ones make when a parent or partner return to college to pursue their dreams.

Kimberly Stewart, a General Studies major with a 3.8 GPA, is a Cumberland resident and high school diploma recipient. A retired Navy veteran and first generation college student, Stewart attended college with an open mind about her major before ultimately settling on ACM’s Occupational Therapy Assistant program, a program she hopes to begin in summer 2019. In her address, she will describe transforming her own negative “what if I can’t” questions into “what if I can” life challenges.

Faculty members will announce the names of the graduates as they walk to receive their associate degrees and certificates. ACM Instructional and Student Affairs Senior Vice President Kurt Hoffman, Ph.D., will present the candidates for graduation, and Leonard will award eligible the graduates their diplomas, assisted by Commencement Grand Marshal Jenna Gallion and Assistant Grand Marshall Stacey Rohrbaugh, both ACM professors.

The West Virginia Brass Quintet will perform throughout the commencement exercises.

Commencement attendees are encouraged to arrive early to obtain convenient parking. For additional information, visit allegany.edu or call 301-784-5005.