MCCC TO HOLD 59TH COMMENCEMENT CEREMONY MAY 8
MONROE, Mich. – Monroe County Community College graduates will be recognized during the 59th Annual Commencement Ceremony on Friday, May 8 at 6 p.m. in the Gerald Welch Health Education Building, located at 1555 S. Raisinville Rd. in Monroe.
There are 351 candidates for graduation.
Student addresses will be made by graduation candidates Dawson Bills and Ahmad Wahab. Each will be introduced by their faculty nominators who mentored them in the preparation of their remarks. Bills will be introduced by Dan Wood, associate professor of criminal justice, and Wahab will be introduced by Lori Biggs, nursing program coordinator.
Tracy Rayl, assistant professor of biology, has been awarded the position of honorary grand marshal for the ceremony. This traditional honor is peer-awarded and bestowed upon a full-time faculty member who is held in high academic and personal esteem for contributions to the institution. She will carry a ceremonial mace that was created and donated to the college by River Raisin Wood Carvers.
Rayl has taught at MCCC for more than 27 years and will retire May 14. She was nominated numerous times for the prestigious Outstanding Faculty of the Year award and was the recipient of the award in 2007. She was the recipient of the MCCC Enriching Lives Award in 2012.
Recognized as a respected leader among MCCC faculty and staff, Rayl served in leadership roles for the MCCC Faculty Association, including serving as chief negotiator and co-chief negotiator and as grievance chair for 15 years.
She co-created the Math and Science Society student club in 1999 and was the co-advisor for many years, leading students in community projects and local and national field trips, and has participated on dozens of college standing and ad hoc committees, task forces and study groups throughout her career.
At its April 27 regular meeting, the Board of Trustees recognized Rayl's many accomplishments, calling her "a valued faculty member who is always willing to go above and beyond the routine responsibilities and expectations," and specifically citing how she "created a positive learning environment in numerous classes that have allowed students to develop academically as well as personally, serving them well both at MCCC and beyond."
At the ceremony, the 2026 Alumnus of the Year Award will be presented to Kellyann Navarre, who earned her associate of science degree from MCCC with a focus in psychology in 2017 and went on to earn a bachelor’s degree in psychology and a master’s degree in clinical psychology.
While studying at MCCC, she participated in the college’s Study Abroad Program trips to Italy and Greece, earned a Global Studies degree designation, served as Writing Center Committee Chair from 2016-2017, guest lectured from 2014-2017 for College Success Skills and English courses, served as a writing fellow from 2014-2017, was an active member of the Psychology Interest Group, and won the Social Sciences Student of Year, Writing Fellow of the Year and President’s Academic Achievement awards for 2016-17.
From 2014-2025, Navarre earned nearly 40 scholarships, fellowships, honors and awards from an array of organizations. She graduated from her associate, bachelor’s and master’s degrees programs with a 4.0 grade point average in each.
Her writings on psychology and mental health have been published in six peer-reviewed publications, including the Oxford Handbook of Borderline Personality Disorder, Teaching of Psychology, Perspectives of the ASHA Special Interest Groups, Personality and Mental Health, Journal of Nursing and Perspectives on Psychological Science.
Navarre joined MCCC as an adjunct professor of psychology in 2025 and has worked as an inpatient health professional for ProMedica Monroe Regional Hospital for more than a year. She has been a research lab member of Understanding and Preventing Loss After Trauma at the Yale School of Medicine Laboratory since 2024 and a Research Advisory Committee member at the University of Toronto for the Study and Treatment of Emotion Dysregulation and Personality Pathology Laboratory since 2022.
In 2025, she won the Education and Advocacy Impact Award at the Emotions Matter 10th Anniversary Gala for significant and consistent leadership in borderline personality disorder and the People’s Choice Research Poster Award at the 20th Annual Yale-National Education Alliance for Borderline Personality Disorder Conference.
In a recent resolution by the Board of Trustees, the members stated that Navarre "utilized every opportunity available to her while a student at MCCC and excelled in each, building an educational foundation that has been instrumental to her impressive success," and "she is diligent in her support of the community, her students, colleagues and the college as a whole and is a person of great character and integrity who exemplifies the best of Monroe County Community College."
Degrees will be conferred by MCCC President Dr. Kojo A. Quartey as the candidates are presented by Dr. Grace Yackee, vice president of instruction. Names of candidates will be read by Dr. Kathleen Shepherd, professor of mathematics.
The Agora Chorale will perform “Go Forth Into the World” by Gerald Custer. The Monroe College-Community Orchestra will open the ceremony with Edward Elgar’s “Fanfare and Processional” (also known as “Pomp and Circumstance”) and the "Star-Spangled Banner" by John Stafford Smith. It will close the ceremony with "Rondeau and Air" from "Abdelazer" by Henry Purcell as the recessional and "Radiant Joy" by Brian Balmages as the postlude.
MCCC’s Board of Trustees includes: Chair Aaron Mason, Vice Chair Lynette Dowler, Secretary Nicole Goodman and trustees Julie Edwards, Linda Roberts, Kristy Svatek-Whitson and Mary Kay Thayer.
About Monroe County Community College
Founded in 1964, Monroe County Community College is a public, two-year institution supported by tax monies from Monroe County, educational funds from the State of Michigan and student tuition. The college’s mission is to enrich lives in our community by providing opportunity through student-focused, affordable, quality higher education and other learning experiences. The Main Campus is located at 1555 South Raisinville Road, Monroe, Mich., 48161, with easy access to Toledo and Detroit. The Whitman Center is located in Temperance, Mich., 48182, near the Ohio-Michigan Border. Detailed information about MCCC is available at www.monroeccc.edu.