Northern Oklahoma College Students at the Tonkawa and Stillwater campuses went through graduation exercises at the 120th Annual Commencement Saturday at Foster-Piper Fieldhouse.
Enid NOC graduates went through exercises at the Briggs Auditorium in Enid.
A total of 589 students earned degrees at the two ceremonies for Associate in Arts, Associate in Science, and Associate in Applied Science.
NOC Vice President for Academic Affairs Dr. Shelly Mencacci opened the ceremony, congratulating the students on reaching their goals for the academic year.
Dr. Mencacci also announced students that maintained a 4.0 GPA and those that earned two associate degrees.
She also introduced the Flag Bearers for each academic division.
They include the following at NOC Tonkawa: Institutional-Jackson Rhodes; Agriculture and Biological Science-McKenna Sobasky; Business-Kaidince Calvert; Engineering, Physical Science and Process Technology-Julie Henning; Fine Arts-Delaney Fox; Health, Physical Education, and Recreation-Heath Howell; Language Arts-Christa Solpietro; Mathematics-Jose Martinez; Nursing-Arlene Oxley; Social Science-Carla West.
They include the following at NOC Enid: Institutional-Morgan Hayes; Agriculture and Biological Science-Chandlar Meacham; Business-Joey Wyrick; Engineering, Physical Science and Process Technology-Eglan Gomez Ochoa; Health, Physical Education, and Recreation-Gloria Baker; Language Arts-Nicholas Barker; Mathematics-Carlos De La Torre; Nursing-Anahi Poras; and Social Science-Jacob Winn.
Mencacci then presented the class with President Diana Morris Watkins conferring the degrees.
The speaker for the commencement ceremony was NOC Distinguished Alumni and famed broadcaster Jeff Medders.
Medders told graduates that NOC was not on his college radar but through a random visit to campus he said, “From the moment I stepped on campus, I really loved the place. I was a small-town kid and NOC and Tonkawa really appealed to me. It was one of the best decisions I ever made.”
Medders gave some fatherly advice to graduates.
“Pick good friends,” he said. “Pick the friends who make you better.”
“Decide what you want to be and go be it,” he added. “It takes hard work but you can do it, if you put your mind to it.”
“Figure out what you’re good at and what you’re not good at it,” Medders said. “It’s important to know the difference.”
Medders then added in closing, “On every tombstone there is a date of birth and date of death and in between is the dash. That dash is everything, every hardship, every success, every life touched. In the end, it’s your whole story.”
“Choose good friends, choose purpose, choose character, choose kindness,” he concluded. “Go live your dash.”
The NOC Concert Band also performed the Armed Forces Salute and the college choir performed “Lift Every Voice and Sing.”
After the candidates for graduation were announced and their tassels turned, the college choir performed NOC’s Alma Mater.
At the Tonkawa exercises, Miranda Nax’ce Myer of the Tonkawa Tribe provided the land acknowledgement for NOC.
Northern Oklahoma College, the state’s first public two-year community college, is a multi-campus, land-grant institution that provides high quality, accessible, and affordable educational opportunities and services.
NOC serves nearly 4,000 students through the home campus in Tonkawa, branch in Enid, and NOC/OSU Gateway Program in Stillwater. Of these students about 80% receive financial aid and/or scholarships. 75% of NOC students complete their degree with zero debt.
The college is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission and offers associate degrees in three general areas: Arts, Science and Applied Science; the Accreditation Council for Business Schools and Programs; and the Accreditation Commission for Education and Nursing.
For more information about Northern Oklahoma College please call (580) 628-6208 or visit the NOC website at www.noc.edu.
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