Radio personality and author Tom Bodett to deliver CCV commencement address Saturday

The Community College of Vermont will hold its 46th commencement ceremonies at Norwich University’s Shapiro Field House at 2 pm on June 1, 2013. Six hundred fourteen students will receive associate degrees.
Along with being the largest graduating class in CCV’s history, the Class of 2013 is a diverse group, representing all 14 Vermont counties, nine US states, and ten countries. First-generation college students make up 65 percent of the class, 35 are veterans, and six are military-connected students. The Class of 2013 ranges in age from 17 to 67 yearsold.
Governor Peter Shumlin, who will congratulate the graduating class, will join CCV President Joyce Judy on stage. Also attending the ceremony will be Vermont State College’s Chancellor Tim Donovan and members of the VSC Board of Trustees.
Radio personality and author Tom Bodett will deliver the commencement address. Bodett began his national broadcasting career as a commentator for NPR's evening news program "All Things Considered" in 1984. His voice has also been heard on ‘Saturday Night Live,’Steven Spielberg's ‘Animaniacs’ and several Ken Burns’documentaries. The author of seven books and 15 audio titles, Bodett is currently a cast member of NPR's satirical weekend news quiz, ‘Wait,Wait...Don't Tell Me,’and a regular blogger at cartalk.com . He has also been the spokesman for the Motel 6 lodging chain, repeating "we'll leave the light on for you" the last 27 years.
Prior to this, Bodett worked in Alaska at various times as a cannery worker, fisherman, logger, radio repairman, hardware store clerk and a house builder. He recently retired from seven years on the Dummerston, Vermont, Selectboard and lives there in the middle of a hayfield with his wife and children.
Patricia Moulton Powden will receive this year’s Community Service Award, which is presented annually in recognition of an individual’s sustained and profound service to our state. Powden has worked for over three decades on economic and workforce development issues in Vermont. She has been appointed by four Vermont governors to various positions in the state and currently serves as the Director of Workforce Development for the Brattleboro Development Credit Union.
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CCV is Vermont’s second largest college, serving over 7,000 students each semester. With 12 locations and extensive online learning options, our students don’t have to travel far from their communities to access 20 degree and six certificate programs, workforce, secondary and continuing education opportunities, and academic and veterans support services.