TCC graduates celebrated during virtual ceremony

With “Pomp and Circumstance” playing and shout-outs from faculty and staff, Tidewater Community College celebrated its Spring Semester graduates with a virtual ceremony held on May 10.

The full stream of the ceremony is available here.

“This celebration demonstrates the tenacity and strength of our students and the TCC community,” said TCC President Marcia Conston, presiding over her third virtual commencement. “Today I acknowledge you – the class of May 2021. You have reached a significant milestone and I am very proud of you and your achievements.”

President Conston acknowledged the college’s military-related students, who make up one-third of enrollment. She also highlighted the college’s 48 Governor’s Medallion recipients who earned TCC associate degrees and certificates while still in high school.

President Conston commended faculty and staff for their role in student success. Several faculty and staff members recorded shout-out videos applauding the resilience of graduates and offering congratulations.

The ceremony featured five student speakers — Athena Jones, Eva Cole and Emmanuel Abuah earned Associate of Science degrees. Steven Dunbar and Dasha Chaney earned Associate of Applied Science degrees.

“The lessons I learned at TCC will follow me for the rest of my life and be a guide for how I live,” said Cole who hopes to one day be a physician.

“My growth at TCC has not just been educational. Being from a different culture, I struggled with my accent and my lack of social integration,” Abuah said. “TCC provided the cushion I needed to help me settle in and keep me on the path to my degree.” Abuah hopes one day be an astronaut and explore space.

Dunbar, a Culinary Arts student added, “Learning that you can meet deadlines is pretty gratifying and looking back and saying, ‘Yes! I did that,’ just feels so good,” Dunbar said. “If I could speak to students coming after me, my message is finish what you start. It’s never too late to accomplish your goals.”

Michelle Woodhouse, TCC’s vice president for academic affairs and chief academic officer, presented the 1,470 graduates. President Conston conferred the degrees.

Prior to the ceremony concluding with a benediction, Sara Hair, the college’s coordinator of leadership and development and a TCC alumna, welcomed TCC’s newest alumni.

Sara Hair, TCC’s coordinator of leadership and development.

“Welcome to our association of more than 100,000 alumni. We are embedded in the fabric of the community and are proud of you for persevering and finishing your degree,” Hair said. “Consider this your official invitation to attend our networking events and embrace all the opportunities offered by the TCC Alumni Association.”

All graduates had their names and corresponding degrees or certificates scroll on screen.

TCC grad achieves lifetime goal of a college education

Debbi Gilbert always thought about going to college and knew that one day she would. It was just a matter of time.

Gilbert has worked as a bookkeeper for 25 years and she came to Tidewater Community College to prepare for a new career.

This Monday, May 10, Gilbert will graduate from TCC with an Associate of Applied Science in Business Management. Next year she will begin work on a bachelor’s degree in human resources at the State University of New York (SUNY), thanks to a matriculation agreement between TCC and SUNY.

“I always wanted to go to college and get a degree,” Gilbert says, “But I was a B and C student in high school. However, I’ve had straight A’s at TCC—only one B!”

Gilbert credits her son Tyler’s experience at TCC as the push she needed to get started. Tyler completed an associate degree in engineering at TCC in 2016 and then transferred to Virginia Tech, earning a bachelor’s in aerospace engineering in 2019.

Convenient scheduling, easy access to four campuses for classes, and top-flight professors and advisors have made Gilberts’ experience at TCC all she could have hoped for. A personal shout-out from Gilbert goes to Angela Slaughter, professor in the Business, Computer Science and IT Pathway, who put together informal meetings for her students, giving them a forum for ideas and business-related interests.

And Gilbert knows a thing or two about business, with over two decades in the workforce and most recently as an intern in the human resources office of United States Coast Guard Community Services Command.

Besides her studies at TCC, Gilbert is a member of Phi Theta Kappa, the honor society for two-year schools. She also shares her time with the Community Feed at TCC. To date, she has collected over a thousand pounds of food and a few hundred dollars in donations.

The Gilberts near their home in Norfolk.

As TCC’s commencement ceremony will stream live on YouTube on May 10 at 6 pm, Gilbert and her family will gather to witness her achievement.

TCC to hold its 71st Commencement Exercises Virtually

Tidewater Community College will hold its 71^st Commencement Exercises virtually due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

On Dec. 21 at 6 p.m., the college will recognize the achievements of its graduates with an online ceremony that will include remarks by President Marcia Conston, student speakers and a conferring of certificates and degrees.

Graduates will have the opportunity to see their photos and names displayed during the virtual ceremony.

Graduates are encouraged to send in a personal photo, video, or message to be included in the virtual event. Parents, family faculty, alumni and community supporters are also encouraged to send greetings to graduates. To participate, visit here. The deadline is Dec. 11.

Also, all December graduates will receive celebratory items for the day including their diploma case, a letter from President Conston, commencement program and alumni pin.

The exercises will be available as a recording afterwards.

The decision to conduct this ceremony online honors guidelines announced by Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam and is in line with CDC regulations for social distancing to deter the spread of COVID-19.

TCC’s December graduates should visit this page for more information about graduation regalia, yard signs and to join TCC’s alumni community.

TCC celebrating fall commencement on Dec. 17

Tidewater Community College alumnus Jared Cotton, superintendent of Chesapeake Public Schools (CPS), will be the keynote speaker for the college’s 67th Commencement Exercises on Dec. 17 at the Ted Constant Convocation Center.

Commencement, which begins at 6 p.m., will be streamed live at tcc.edu/commencement.

Nearly 2,000 will graduate, earning degrees or certificates. Gregory DeCinque, who became interim president in July, will be presiding over his first TCC commencement.

Jared Cotton at his office at Chesapeake Public Schools.

Cotton, a Great Bridge High graduate, could have attended some of the commonwealth’s best universities after high school, but he chose to start at TCC. Named superintendent of CPS over the summer, he earned his Associate of Science in Education at TCC, where he developed a passion for teaching.

Cotton holds a doctorate in educational administration and policy studies and a master’s in educational administration from The George Washington University, and a bachelor’s in middle school education from Old Dominion University.

“I’m proud of the start I had at community college,” Cotton said. “Now as superintendent, I have the opportunity to change the trajectory of many students’ lives and give them all of the resources to be successful.”

Paul Cage in the interior design lab at the Chesapeake Campus.

Student speaker Paul Cage spent 22 years in the U.S. Navy as a sonar technician on submarines and was later cross-trained as a machinery technician on surface vessels. He deployed overseas 18 times during his military service.

He came to TCC to retrain for a new career and holds a Career Studies Certificate in Trucking, an Associate of Applied Science in Interior Design and a Career Studies Certificate in Associate Designer.

After graduation, Cage plans to specialize in kitchen and bath design.

He is joined at commencement by his wife, Sherrilyn Olds-Cage, who is graduating with an Associate of Science in Social Sciences. She attends ODU, where she is preparing for a career in social work.

The college will award a posthumous degree to student Belinda Drew. The Portsmouth native was just two classes shy of earning her Associate of Science in Social Sciences when she died unexpectedly on July 23.