Press contact: Kyla Kruse
SPRINGFIELD — Lincoln Land Community College will conduct commencement exercises on Friday, May 17 at 7:30 p.m. at the Bank of Springfield Center in Springfield.
Divina Shā Kluge of Springfield has been selected as this year’s commencement speaker. She is earning an associate in applied science degree in integrated media design. Kluge is also the weekend news anchor for WTAX 93.9 FM. After graduation, she plans to pursue a career in social media marketing.
Alexa Maher and Olivia Marchizza of Auburn are serving as student marshals for the commencement ceremony. Maher served as president of the Honors Program Student Club and Phi Theta Kappa treasurer. She has a 4.0 GPA and is earning an associate in arts degree with an emphasis in accounting and plans to transfer to University of Illinois Springfield to continue her education, with the goal of earning a master’s degree and working in forensic accounting.
Marchizza was named a Phi Theta Kappa 2024 New Century Transfer Pathway Scholar. She served as Phi Theta Kappa vice president of scholarship and vice president of the Honors Program Student Club. She was also a member of the women’s basketball team and Fellowship of Christian Athletes. She is earning an associate in science degree and plans to continue her education to earn a master’s degree and become an occupational or speech therapist.
David Western, embedded software engineer for Lockheed Martin, is being recognized with the 2024 LLCC Honored Alumni Award. After graduating from LLCC, Western earned a bachelor’s degree in aerospace engineering from Missouri University of Science and Technology in 2019. During that time, he was a member of a spacecraft research team that supported a NASA-sponsored project to build and launch a CubeSat. He then earned a master’s degree in space resources in 2021 from Colorado School of Mines, where he served as a graduate research assistant on a NASA research project to optimize a hypothetical team of satellites collecting data from an asteroid. For the past three years, Western has been developing the flight software for the U.S. Space Force’s early warning missile detection and tracking satellite program. The software controls such functions as the collection of sensor data, firing of thrusters and transmission of data back to ground stations. The first satellite is expected to be launched in 2025.