As Colorado Mountain College gears up to celebrate its spring graduating class at the Rifle campus, the institution that has helped thousands throughout the Western Slope receive an education has invited a prominent local government official to give its commencement speech.

Parachute Mayor Roy B. McClung, who secured four more years as mayor running unopposed in the April 3 election, will address this year’s group of students.

“I’m hoping I will be able to use my experiences in local government and local industries to encourage them for their future,” McClung said.

He said that when CMC called to ask him to speak, it was a quick “yes” because of all the work the organization does across the six-county college district.

Although he has not taken classes at CMC personally, he has been involved with some of the college’s training seminars, including one that taught CPR and first-aid.

“I hope to offer some advice to these students, pointers based on my experiences in local government and working with a variety of local industries,” he said.

CMC Rifle will be celebrating its 2018 graduates in two commencement ceremonies in May. The first will be at the Rifle campus on Friday at 6 p.m. in the Clough Auditorium.

Because of the large number of students participating, graduates honored in this ceremony will receive tickets to give to their guests, according to a press release.

There will be three overflow rooms where the commencement will be live-streamed. Free child care will also be available.

Students will receive associate degrees, bachelor’s degrees, certificates of occupational proficiency and high school equivalency diplomas following McClung’s speech.

CMC Rifle will also hold a concurrent enrollment graduation for high school students at the Rifle campus at 6 p.m. next Monday. The ceremony will acknowledge students earning certificates in basic welding and cutting, basic solar photovoltaic installer, nurse aide training and early childhood education, according to the press release.

The commencement speaker at the concurrent enrollment graduation is Lee Harrison, a 2013 graduate of Rifle High School and 2017 graduate of Colorado Mesa University who took concurrent enrollment classes when he was in high school.