Montgomery College Awards Over 3,250 Degrees and Certificates in Celebration of the 76th Graduating Class

Montgomery College celebrated the class of 2023 at the 76^th Annual Commencement Exercises Friday, May 19 on the Rockville Campus Athletic Field. The College recognized students from the Germantown, Rockville and Takoma Park/Silver Spring campuses, Workforce Development and Continuing Education programs, the Board of Trustees (BOT) Academic Excellence honorees, and four honorary degree recipients. Nearly 1,200 students walked the stage at Friday’s commencement having completed their degree and certificate requirements.  

This year, the College awarded more than 3,250 degrees and certificates to approximately 3,000 students.

“Today’s graduates will take their next steps into the professional world or onto further education, or both, at an extraordinary moment in history. Technology is accelerating more rapidly than any of us could have imagined. An estimated 85% of the jobs that will exist in 2030 haven’t been invented yet,” said Dr. Jermaine F. Williams, president of Montgomery College. “This means that all of you will be learning new skills on the job or continuing with education at some point in the future. The crux of this is adaptation… in the future, skillsets will identify people more so than traditional, occupational roles. Students and workers must know how to learn quickly, and continuously. This will ensure that you always have skills to advance and optimize your potential impact in the community.”

Among the ceremony highlights, Montgomery College grad Daniel Velado sang the National Anthem and Rico Newman, an elder with the Choptico Band of Piscataway-Canoy Indians, issued the customary land acknowledgement via video feed.

The presentation of the Board of Trustees Academic Excellence Awards was made by Dr. Michael A. Brintnall, the College’s BOT chair. Richa Carmel D’Mello, the Board of Trustees Academic Excellence Award Scholar in science, technology, engineering and mathematics, was given the honor of addressing her fellow ’23 graduating classmates.

“I am deeply honored to be receiving the Board of Trustees Academic Excellence Award. I would like to thank my parents and my sister who are watching this livestream back home in Bahrain… And I am a first-generation college student,” said D’Mello, while also acknowledging the MC student life staff, as well as the faculty and administrators who helped along her MC journey. “Not only did my [Montgomery College family and friends] help me strive for academic excellence, but they helped me discover my passion for advocacy and leadership.”

Representing 102 countries, the average age for the College’s class of 2023 is 20, and the graduates mirror the vast diversity of Montgomery County. Specifically, graduating students identify themselves as: Asian (15%), Black/African American (24%), foreign students (10%), Hispanic (25%), and White (22%).

“For the class of 2023, your skills will be leveraged in ways we couldn't imagine even five years ago - before Zoom was a routine fixture and artificial intelligence was part of our everyday lexicon,” Williams told the graduates. “Every day, new tools are being created that will multiply your influence. What you will bring to this equation is essential: your talent and agility; your lived experiences; and a refined vision for social justice and equity.”

View Montgomery College’s 2023 commencement in its entirety at this link.