Lanier Tech graduates 1021 in the College's 2015 commencement, the 49th in the College's history

Lanier Tech graduates 1021 in the College’s 2015 commencement, the 49th in the College’s history at Free Chapel in Gainesville! The youngest of LTC’s 2015 graduating class is 16, and the oldest graduate is 68. Lanier Technical College conferred 1510 awards as some of the 2015 graduates earned more than one degree, certificate, or diploma.

Dr. Ray Perren, President of Lanier Technical College told the graduates, “You’re a smart bunch of graduates. Your class has an average GPA of 3.5.” Graduates came from every one of the seven counties that the College serves. Banks County had 11 graduates, Barrow had 115, Dawson had 94, Forsyth had146, Hall, the largest group of graduates had 257, Jackson 102, and Lumpkin County had 33 new graduates. Another 263 graduates came from outside the College’s traditional service.

Keynote speaker, Christian Tetzlaff, the Technical College System of Georgia Instructor of the Year, Lead Instructor of LTC’s Motorsports Vehicle Technology (MVT) program, and a professional racecar driver, explained why he chose to teach in technical education. Tetzlaff’s powerful story to the graduates centered on how Tetzlaff’s father, penniless and with only the clothes that he had on, escaped through the Berlin Wall in the early ‘60s to reach freedom. When his father finally landed in North Carolina after working his way on a merchant marine ship, he found work as a welder. Rolf Tetzlaff spoke no English, only a word or two, one of which was “weld”. That word launched the senior Tetzlaff on his journey as a free tradesman. The senior Tetzlaff’s advice to his son, Christian, was powerful and summarizes the mission of Lanier Technical College, “If you have a skill, you will never be hungry”. Christian Tetzlaff chose to teach technical education to honor the legacy that his father made possible for Christian. The TCSG Instructor of the Year told the 2015 graduates, “You have that legacy, too.”

Lanier Technical College’s 2015 graduating class had 352 male graduates and 669 female graduates. The top five programs from which the students graduated showed the diversity of the workforce skills and college education offerings available at Lanier Tech. Practical Nursing had the most graduates, Cosmetology was second, Welding and Joining Technology was third, with Early Childhood Care and Education and Industrial Systems Technology being fourth and fifth respectively.

Lanier Technical College is the top Technical College in Georgia and has a 100% job placement rate and offers over 40 programs of study in some of the nation’s fastest-growing career fields including healthcare, energy, business and industry, and public or private service. More information about Lanier Technical College may be obtained by calling 770-533-7000 or by visiting www.laniertech.edu. Lanier Technical College is a unit of theTechnical College System of Georgia.