The TRIO graduation happens tonight at 5:30 p.m. in the Trutter Center. TRIO is a grant funded program from the Department of Education that allows the college to academically support first generation, income eligible and students with special needs to plan and reach their educational goals. The TRIO team is so proud of these 34 students, and we wish them well in their future academic and career pursuits.

On Friday, May 17, 2024, the LLCC Commencement ceremony will be held at the Bank of Springfield Center,
1 Convention Center Plaza (8th Street between Adams and Washington Streets), Springfield, and will begin promptly at 7:30 p.m. with the processional. If you are not planning to be at Commencement, please be reminded that you need to email President Warren for approval.

PLEASE BE AWARE: The Springfield PRIDEFEST is scheduled for May 18, and they will begin setting up the afternoon and evening of May 17. There will be street closures so please allow sufficient time to find alternative routes and parking if necessary. Also please note that 4th Street and Adams is now two-way traffic.

Faculty should arrive no later than 7 p.m. so that you can assemble in line. Faculty and administrators will line up on the South Ramp. The seating in the Center will be graduates seated in two sections in front and the faculty will be seated behind the graduates in two sections. The line of march will be posted in the LincIn on Wednesday, May 15.

When you arrive, you will see the line of march posted in several places. The line of march will look like this:

1. 1. Find your last name and determine whether you are in Line A or Line B.
2. Then locate your row and your specific place within that row. If you are Ruth Acerman, you would be in Line B (house right), Row 2 and the seventh person in that row. If you were Cathy Allan, you would be in Line A (house left) , Row 3 and the 10th person in that row.

Lines and rows will be clearly marked in the designated area for assembly. Please refrain from congregating at the front of the line, as this obstructs the path for other faculty and administrators trying to find their place and reduces the space for the personnel that will be on the platform to assemble. Remember, faculty emeriti are always positioned at the front of the line.
We do our best to ensure that the line of march is correct. The line of march may each year and up to the night of Commencement due to retirements, resignations, illnesses and other circumstances. Consider the line of march as a flexible guide rather than a strict rule. If you believe you should be positioned elsewhere in the line, feel free to stand where you think is appropriate. Amy Williams and Vickie Ward will be there to assist you with getting your regalia on and/or helping you find your position in the LOM.

There are 10 chairs in each row. Stand in front of one chair only. Your faculty marshals this year are Kirk Yenerall and Matt Shaver. They will lead you in.

Please note: Due to liability issues, there will NOT be a place to check your personal belongings. Please leave anything you do not wish to carry in your vehicle.

Processional

• FIRST: The Board of Trustees and platform members will proceed into the Center’s main hall; graduating students, faculty and administrators will remain at their designated locations until the platform members are at their seats.
• SECOND: When members of the platform party are at their seats, there will be a pause in the music followed by a fanfare, and then faculty and administrators will proceed to their row of seats, led by the two faculty marshals. A program will already be in your chairs. It will not be necessary to pick one up from the ushers.
• THIRD: There will be a pause in the music, followed by a fanfare, and the graduating students, led by the marshals, will proceed to their rows of seats.

Recessional

• FIRST: The Board of Trustees and platform members will recess to the lobby area.
• SECOND: The graduating class who will recess between the two sections where faculty and administrators are seated.
• THIRD: After the graduates have recessed the faculty and administrators will recess. Again, the two faculty marshals will lead the faculty and administrators out.
• We kindly ask faculty members to be considerate of the staff and employees at the BOS Center. Please remember that there are individuals responsible for cleaning up after commencement. Before leaving, we request that you pick up your program, water bottle, or any other trash near your chair and properly dispose of it in the designated trash receptacles. Your cooperation is greatly appreciated.

Regalia

If you have not yet picked up your regalia from the bookstore, please do so ASAP! Also, please do not forget to return your regalia at the BOS Center at the completion of Commencement. Please be attentive when returning your regalia and place your regalia in the box, not beside or under the box, or just thrown on the floor.

Parking

There is free on street parking as well as several locations around the Bank of Springfield Center.

LLCC will conduct commencement exercises on Friday, May 17 at 7:30 p.m. at the Bank of Springfield Center in Springfield.

Divina Shā Kluge of Springfield has been selected as this year’s commencement speaker. She is earning an associate in applied science degree in integrated media design. Kluge is also the weekend news anchor for WTAX 93.9 FM. After graduation, she plans to pursue a career in social media marketing.

Alexa Maher and Olivia Marchizza of Auburn are serving as student marshals for the commencement ceremony. Maher served as president of the Honors Program Student Club and Phi Theta Kappa treasurer. She has a 4.0 GPA and is earning an associate in arts degree with an emphasis in accounting and plans to transfer to University of Illinois Springfield to continue her education, with the goal of earning a master’s degree and working in forensic accounting.

Marchizza was named a Phi Theta Kappa 2024 New Century Transfer Pathway Scholar. She served as Phi Theta Kappa vice president of scholarship and vice president of the Honors Program Student Club. She was also a member of the women’s basketball team and Fellowship of Christian Athletes. She is earning an associate in science degree and plans to continue her education to earn a master’s degree and become an occupational or speech therapist.

David Western, embedded software engineer for Lockheed Martin, is being recognized with the 2024 LLCC Honored Alumni Award. After graduating from LLCC, Western earned a bachelor’s degree in aerospace engineering from Missouri University of Science and Technology in 2019. During that time, he was a member of a spacecraft research team that supported a NASA-sponsored project to build and launch a CubeSat. He then earned a master’s degree in space resources in 2021 from Colorado School of Mines, where he served as a graduate research assistant on a NASA research project to optimize a hypothetical team of satellites collecting data from an asteroid. For the past three years, Western has been developing the flight software for the U.S. Space Force’s early warning missile detection and tracking satellite program. The software controls such functions as the collection of sensor data, firing of thrusters and transmission of data back to ground stations. The first satellite is expected to be launched in 2025.