Radiography program pins first cohort

Published on May 15, 2025

Graduation season at Ashland Community & Technical College kicked off on Tuesday, May 6 when friends and family gathered in the Rocky Adkins Pavilion of ACTC’s Technology Drive Campus to celebrate the 2025 graduates of the college’s radiography program. 

This cohort is the first graduating class of the program, which began in 2023.

The 10-member class heard opening remarks from ACTC President/CEO, Dr. Larry Ferguson. 

“Tonight, it is a great honor to speak to you as you celebrate the completion of a journey that started two years ago. You are the first class of our radiography program, and you are an example of how to persevere through life’s obstacles,” he said. 

Suzanne Stephens, radiography program coordinator, shared her pride in how much her students had persevered over the course of the program. 

“I know we all had a few days when we felt like running for the hills. But I didn’t, and you didn’t, and just look where you are now.”

Clinical Coordinator, Brandy Lemaster, echoed those same feelings.

“You chose to be first,” she said. “That choice required a special kind of faith and fortitude. While students in established programs could rely on the experiences of those who came before them, you had no such luxury. There were no upperclassmen to guide you, no alumni network to tap into, no tried-and-true study strategies passed down through generations of students. You were the trailblazers, creating the path as you walked it.”

During the ceremony, Erin Rathburn was presented with the Academic Excellence Award and Clara Nelson was presented with the Clinical Excellence Award. 

Following the reading of the poem “A Light Within the Shadows,” by graduate Destiny Pennington, the following students were pinned:

Kaitlyn Castle
Bailey Galvin
Graci Greenhill
Katlyn Hensley
Ariel Holbrook
Tao Lin
Clara Nelson
Destiny Pennington
Erin Rathburn
Laney Scott
 

Written by: Megan Smedley, ACTC Strategic Communications Administrator