PCC to Hold 100th Commencement; Former Students, Faculty, Staff to Attend this May 8 Special Event
05/01/2009: Polk Community College will hold its 100th commencement on May 8 at 6:30 p.m. in the Health Center Gym on the Winter Haven campus. This will also mark the last graduation the College will hold as Polk Community College. The College will change its name to Polk State College effective on July 1. The new name reflects the addition of baccalaureate offerings.
Former students, faculty, staff, and administrators have been invited to attend the 100th Commencement.
PCC started on the Bartow Air Base in 1964 as Polk Junior College. Expecting about 600 students to enroll, PJC’s staff was surprised when 1,107 showed up. The College’s first graduation was held in June 1966, and 111 students received their associate degrees.
Five special guests will be introduced at the May 8, 2009, graduation ceremonies:
- The College’s founding President Dr. Fred Lenfestey– During his 18 years (1964-1982), the College experienced tremendous growth from its beginnings on the Bartow Air Base to the planning, construction, and 1968 opening of a permanent campus on the shores of Lake Elbert, Winter Haven. Under his tenure, the College changed its name (in 1971) to Polk Community College and (in 1978) acquired a 130-acre citrus grove in Lakeland as the site for a future campus.
- PCC’s second President Dr. Maryly VanLeer Peck– She served from 1982-1997, and her accomplishments include the planning, construction, and (1988) opening of the Lakeland campus. During her tenure, there was tremendous growth in scholarships, expansion of the PCC Foundation, and the introduction of computers at the College.
- PJC’s first professor Bob Henne– He and Charlie Harris formed a baseball team and a basketball team with a limited season of eight games. PJC was the first public school in Polk County to become integrated, and it also had one of the first integrated junior college basketball teams in Florida. Henne’s wife, son, and daughter all graduated from PCC.
- Polk Junior College’s first enrolled student: Teacher Sandra Odom Riggio– She was the first student because her father, who was then Bartow’s City Manager, came home early one day and drove her to the Bartow Air Base. She was met by Dr. Lenfestey, who handed her an application. Riggio’s art classes were held in the base’s former chapel, where astronaut Edward White had married his wife.
- One of PJC’s first class of nursing graduates: Marcia Scott– She enrolled in the College’s first nursing program, which began in 1965. There were 36 students in the program, including one African American and one male. She currently is a nursing professor at PCC.
There are 432 students (ranging in age from 16 to 59) eligible to graduate in PCC’s 100th graduating class:
- 299 will receive Associate in Arts degrees.
- 17 will receive Associate in Applied Science degrees.
- 116 will receive Associate in Science degrees.
- 84 will be graduating with honors (3.5 or better grade point average).
- 10 students maintained a perfect 4.0 grade point average and will receive the Palma & Allen Cole Distinguished Academic Achievement Award and a $150 check from the PCC Foundation.
PCC’s first Honors Program students will also be graduating on May 8. They are Bastian Bockenhuser, Louise McGee, and Joshua Walbert. They will all be graduating with honors.
Over 30,000 degrees have been awarded by PCC since it began in 1964. More than half of PCC's graduates continue to live and work in Polk County. One of them, Circuit Judge Ellen Sly Masters, will be honored on May 8 as PCC’s Distinguished Alumnus Award winner.
Judge Masters received her associate of arts degree from PCC in 1983. She was the first recipient of the Board of Trustees Academic Achievement Award for achieving a 4.0 grade point average. She received a bachelor’s degree in psychology in 1985 and a juris doctorate from Stetson University in 1989.
She worked with a law firm for five years, and in 1994 Judge Masters opened her own practice. In 1999, Gov. Jeb Bush appointed her to serve as a judge for Polk County, and she closed her private practice. She was later appointed to the 10th Judicial Circuit Court.
Most of her free time is spent participating in legal-oriented organizations, playing tennis, and spending time with her husband of 30 years, Buddy, who works for the Lakeland Police Department, and two sons: Brant, 24 (a PCC alum), and Mac, 21 (a PCC student).