More than 800 students are already confirmed to graduate from Lake Superior College as part of the 2021 Commencement Ceremony, which will be held virtually this year due to COVID-19. Among the graduates will be at least 411 first generation students and over 40 high school students who have completed their degrees through Post Secondary Enrollment Options (PSEO).
“A heartfelt congratulations to the Lake Superior College Class of 2021,” said Lake Superior College President Patricia Rogers. “For over a year now, these students have had to endure the additional challenges of attending college during a global pandemic. They’ve proven to be resilient and met the challenge with impressive determination and adaptability. We are so proud of each and every one of these graduates, and now proud to call them LSC alumni. I am also greatly appreciative of our faculty and staff who have rallied around our students to help support them during this unique time. Their work, along with the support of family and friends, has helped lead the graduates to this milestone in their life. All of us at LSC are honored to award over 800 degrees, diplomas and certificates to the LSC Class of 2021.”
The virtual ceremony will be pre-recorded and made available on LSC’s website, www.lsc.edu/commencement, on May 17. Commencement speakers include Minnesota Lt. Governor Peggy Flanagan, Minnesota State Trustee Dawn Erlandson, and LSC Student Senate President Jada Guthrie.
Peggy Flanagan is serving as the 50th lieutenant governor of the State of Minnesota. She was elected lieutenant governor on November 6, 2018, and is the second American Indian woman to be elected to statewide executive office in U.S. history. At the center of all her work is advocating and making progress for children, working families, communities of color and Indigenous communities, and Minnesotans who have historically been underserved and underrepresented. A St. Louis Park native, Peggy is proud to be a graduate of St. Louis Park Public Schools. In 2002, she earned her bachelor’s degree in American Indian studies and child psychology from the University of Minnesota. She served on the Minneapolis Board of Education from 2005 to 2009. She went on to work at Wellstone Action for nearly a decade. Following her work at Wellstone Action, Peggy served as the Executive Director of Children’s Defense Fund - Minnesota, a non-profit child-advocacy organization working to level the playing field for all children in our state. In 2015, Peggy Flanagan was elected to the Minnesota House of Representatives, serving her own community of St. Louis Park, as well as Golden Valley, Plymouth and Medicine Lake. While in office, Peggy served as the DFL lead on the Subcommittee on Child Care Access and Affordability. In 2017, she joined her DFL legislative colleagues to form the POCI (People of Color and Indigenous) Caucus. Together, the caucus works to improve the education, health and economic opportunities of people of color and Indigenous communities across the state. She is a member of the White Earth Band of Ojibwe.
Minnesota State Trustee Dawn Erlandson, of Minneapolis, is the president of Aurora Strategic Advisors, Inc., where she leads public affairs and marketing communications efforts for local, state, and national clients. In October 2019, she became the chair of the Board of Directors of the Association of Community College Trustees (ACCT) based in Washington, D.C. Previously, she served as the chair-elect of the ACCT Board of Directors. Erlandson is also the board chair of UPSTREAM, a national environmental organization. She previously served as board president of the Minneapolis Community and Technical College Foundation. Erlandson has served on the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities Board of Trustees since 2012. Gov. Mark Dayton reappointed her to another six-year term in 2018. Her term ends June 30, 2024.
Student Senate President Jada Guthrie is graduating with an associate of arts degree and plans to attend the University of Wisconsin-Superior in the fall to complete her bachelor’s degree in social work. She was first elected to the LSC Student Senate in 2019, and elected President of the Student Senate in fall of 2020. She has also served as a student worker in Student Life and LSC’s Intercultural Center. In addition, Guthrie was the Platform Committee Representative at Large for Lead MN, a statewide student government organization.
More information on the commencement ceremony can be found on LSC’s website.
