Graduates in the electrical lineworker technology certificate program wear yellow hardhats instead of mortar boards during the Kennebec Valley Community College graduation at the Augusta Civic Center on May 21, 2022. The class of 2024 is set to graduate on May 11. Joe Phelan/Kennebec Journal file
FAIRFIELD — Kennebec Valley Community College will celebrate the graduation of 427 students next week, with a keynote address from a local entrepreneur in the coffee industry.
Churchill Elangwe-Preston, owner of coffee roasting business Mbingo Mountain Coffee, smiles as he finishes a batch of Ethiopian coffee beans in Waterville in January 2023. Morning Sentinel file
The commencement ceremony is planned for Saturday, May 11, at 10 a.m. at the Augusta Civic Center, according to a news release from the college.
More than 250 students from the class of 2024 are expected to attend, the college said.
KVCC offers more than 30 associate degree programs and certificates. The college has the lowest tuition in New England and offers recent high school graduates the opportunity to attend community college for free.
Churchill Elangwe-Preston, founder of Waterville’s Mbingo Mountain Coffee, is scheduled to deliver the keynote address. Elangwe-Preston, who grew up in Cameroon and now lives in Waterville, studied electrical technology at KVCC and electrical engineering at Rochester Institute of Technology before founding his coffee business.
“His journey underscores the importance of embracing one’s roots, pursuing one’s passions, and the impact of lifelong learning,” the school said in the release.
Crystal MacGown of Bath is the student commencement speaker. MacGown, the KVCC 2024 Student of the Year, is receiving an associate degree in radiologic technology and plans to work at Mid-Coast Hospital in Brunswick after graduating.
Cindy (Davis) Stevens is to receive the KVCC Distinguished Alumnus Award. Stevens graduated from KVCC in 1977 with a diploma in marketing and later earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees. Stevens worked for 40 years in sales, marketing, human resources, finance and management roles with the Morning Sentinel and Kennebec Journal and currently is a program director at the Mid-Maine Chamber of Commerce.
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