Southern State honors diverse Adams County graduates at commencement
Southern State’s 258 graduates ranged from 16 to 60, and 60 earned associate degrees while still in high school through College Credit Plus.
Adams County families filled the Patriot Center in Hillsboro on Friday as Southern State Community College turned commencement into a wider portrait of the region’s workforce pipeline. The college recognized 258 graduates, including 227 associate degrees and 35 certificates, with students from 18 counties and ages from 16 to 60. More than half of the class began at Southern State while still in high school, and 60 associate-degree recipients had not yet graduated from high school through College Credit Plus.
The evening opened with an invocation from Logan Savage, a Phi Theta Kappa vice president of service and a graduate from Highland County, followed by the national anthem from Dr. Jessica Wise, Laura Brookes and Michele Rout. James Barnett and President Dr. Nicole Roades welcomed graduates, families, friends and supporters, and Roades praised the class for its persistence and commitment to earning a degree or certificate.
For Southern State, the numbers pointed to a campus that has become a regional bridge between local high schools, adult learners and employers across southern Ohio. Students from Adams County and nearby communities in Highland and Clinton counties shared the stage with classmates from across 18 counties, reinforcing the college’s role as a place where first-time college students, older students and people changing directions can all move toward the next step without leaving the area. Southern State said some graduates were first-generation degree earners, while others came from long family traditions, adding a generational layer to the milestone.
The 2026 class was slightly smaller than Southern State’s 261 graduates in 2025 and 312 in 2024, when the college also marked its 50th anniversary. Those earlier ceremonies included 60 College Credit Plus associate-degree graduates in 2025 and 82 in 2024, showing that early college enrollment has remained a steady part of the institution’s reach. This year’s commencement carried the same message in a different form: the diplomas handed out in Hillsboro marked not an ending, but a workforce and education pipeline that will keep shaping Adams County and the surrounding region.
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