Laurel Ridge Community College, formerly Lord Fairfax Community College, is a

public In public relations and communication science, publics are groups of individual people, and the public (a.k.a. the general public) is the totality of such groupings. This is a different concept to the sociological concept of the ''Öffentlichk ...

community college A community college is a type of educational institution. The term can have different meanings in different countries: many community colleges have an "open enrollment" for students who have graduated from high school (also known as senior se ...

in the Shenandoah Valley and

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regions of

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

. It is part of the

Virginia Community College System The Virginia Community College System (VCCS) oversees a network of 23 community colleges in Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, betwe ...

and operates four locations — the Fauquier and Middletown Campuses, the Luray-Page County Center, and a site at Vint Hill in eastern Fauquier County — that serve seven counties and one city in the area, enrolling 9,400 students. Students attending Laurel Ridge can obtain an associate degree or certificate. In July 2021, the Virginia State Board of Community Colleges changed names for local institutions named after people who owned slaves or advocated racist policies such as

school segregation School segregation is the division of people into different groups in the education system by characteristics such as race, religion, or ethnicity. See also *'' D.H. and Others v. the Czech Republic'' *School segregation in the United States *Single ...

. The board allowed the college to change its name to from Lord Fairfax Community College to Laurel Ridge Community College. Instead of venerating

Thomas Fairfax, 6th Lord Fairfax of Cameron Thomas Fairfax, 6th Lord Fairfax of Cameron (22 October 16939 December 1781), was a Scottish peer. He was the son of Thomas Fairfax, 5th Lord Fairfax of Cameron, and Catherine Colepeper, daughter of Thomas Colepeper, 2nd Baron Colepeper. The ...

plantation owner A plantation is an agricultural estate, generally centered on a plantation house, meant for farming that specializes in cash crops, usually mainly planted with a single crop, with perhaps ancillary areas for vegetables for eating and so on. The ...

, the new name honors laurel flower that has been associated with academic achievement.

History

The first president was William McCoy who served from 1970 until 1989. The second president was Marilyn Beck from 1990 through 2002. She was followed by John Sylgielski from 2003 until May 2008. Cheryl Thompson-Stacy became the fourth president in January 2009 and was succeeded by Kimberly Blosser in April 2019.

Accreditation

Laurel Ridge Community College is accredited by the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools to award associate degrees.

References

External links

* Virginia Community College System Universities and colleges accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Education in Page County, Virginia Education in Fauquier County, Virginia Education in Frederick County, Virginia Educational institutions established in 1970 1970 establishments in Virginia {{Virginia-university-stub