Manhattan Area Technical College celebrated its graduates over the weekend with its spring commencement ceremony.
The ceremony was held at University Christian Church. President Jim Genandt says with MATC’s ceremony, they try to have a more celebratory atmosphere.
Genandt says the celebration isn’t just for the students, but for the families and staff as well. MATC was still able to hold an in-person ceremony with COVID restrictions, but removed those for this year’s ceremony. Genandt says graduation is the best day of the year for MATC and his favorite as well.
Dean of Student Services Neil Ross says a lot of effort goes into the event, but it’s worth it for the celebration.
This year’s ceremony was at University Christian Church, which Ross the partnership between the two entities started due to COVID. Math Instructor Brian Cook says he loves graduation day, and even has a personal connection to it.
Cook says it was nice to see enrollment actually increase, even through the pandemic.
One of the graduates, Amy Glenn, graduated in Construction Technology. While she was nervous for the day, she was also excited to walk across the stage and to be done with all the hard work.
Glenn is an army veteran, who spent the past year in night classes to get her degree.
During the ceremony, Genandt presented the results from a recent return on investment from higher education study from Georgetown University, which placed MATC second in the state behind the University of Kansas.
