LCC expecting spirited graduation.

Byline: Greg Bolt The Register-Guard

LCC GRADUATION When: 4 p.m. today; doors open 3:30 p.m. Where: Lane County fairgrounds Seating: First-come, first-served; no tickets required

Yes, they will play "Pomp and Circumstance" at the Lane Community College graduation ceremony today, but don't expect much more pomp than that.

Close to 1,000 LCC graduates will be eligible to take part in the ceremony that starts at 4 p.m. at the Lane County fairgrounds, and a pretty good share of them will show up to walk across the stage. Caps and gowns aren't absolutely required, and audience restraint is optional, too.

"It's a pretty high-energy event, let me tell you. It's a hoot," said Barb Delansky, the student life director and graduation coordinator. "It's been great. People tend to have a really good time."

What else would you expect when you have students graduating with degrees in everything from culinary arts to diesel mechanics, when the next stop for some is a four-year university and for others a nursing job? Wherever they're going next, students and their families are in a mood to celebrate.

That should be the case even though most of those graduates still have finals week ahead of them. Due to a mix-up in scheduling, a recreational vehicle show got booked into the events center on the usual graduation date next Saturday and the event had to be moved up, Delansky said.

No matter. Some students always have work to complete over the summer and take part in graduation just the same, and most have a pretty good idea about whether next week's finals will change their status.

What makes LCC's graduation such a festive affair is the breadth of students and the careers they are about to embark on. Although figures for this year's class aren't available yet, the class of 2004 was close to an even split between students earning a transfer degree on the way to a four-year university and students earning one of the college's many professional-technical degrees.

Of the 983 students that year, 518 received professional-technical degrees or certificates and 465 picked up transfer degrees.

Andrea Newton, head of the cooperative education division, said people from all walks of life learn new trades or professional skills at LCC.

"I think they represent just about the same pretty eclectic mix as the college as a whole," she said. "Some of them are right out of high school, some are 50 years old and changing careers. Some already have a four-year degree and are moving in a new direction. It's as broad as the population of Lane."

No matter what the degree, they all get the same send-off. Newton said her favorite part of the ceremony is at the end, when all the faculty and staff form a gantlet and applaud the graduates as they march out.

"That's kind of a special thing to me, just to let them know that we're here to support them and we're really happy they've achieved what they set out to," she said. "I've never experienced that at any other graduation."