ASC Spring Commencement Speaker is Fritzsche (05-03-05)
Melanie Patten Fritzsche '92, will give the Adams State College Spring 2005 Commencement Address. The event will begin at 10 a.m., Saturday, May 7, in Plachy Hall.
ASC will award 340 degrees this fall, including 228 bachelor's degrees, 100 master's degrees, and 12 associate's degrees.
Fritzsche received her Bachelor of Art's in History/Government with a minor in English at Adams State College. She was on the 1991 National Cross Country Championship Team and ran her first marathon as a team member of the ASC track and field. She also was a senator and vice president for ASC Associated Students and Faculty.
Fritzsche was accepted to law school her senior year at ASC. She graduated with a J.D from the University of New Mexico School of Law in 1996. While at UNM she earned certificates in Indian Law and Natural Resources.
As an attorney, Fritzsche has been in public service and private practice. She practices in the area of water law representing farmers, irrigators and developers for the law firm of Law & Resource Planning Associates, P.C.
In August 1994, Fritzsche and her husband, Matt, started a commercial printing company called Aurora Publishing, LLC. Matt is the general manager. Melanie, who is an enrolled member of the Laguna Pueblo, is the majority owner of Aurora making it a Native American woman owned company.
Fritzsche currently serves on the UNM School of Law ad hoc admissions review committee. She was the Chair of the Young Lawyers Division Board for the State of New Mexico, and one of six young attorneys nation-wide to receive the American Bar Association's Minorities in the Profession Committee's scholarship in 2003.
Two professors will receive emeritus status as Commencement. Dr. Ted Ellis, professor of Economics, and Dr. Marilyn Loser '86 '87, professor of mathematics/computer science, are retiring this spring.
Adams State College will recognize Ketha and George Woodard for their continued support and commitment to Adams State College. George served on the Board of Trustees for ten years and was on the ASC Foundation for over twenty years.
Dr. Christine Keitges, professor of music, will lead the singing of the Alma Mater. A reception will follow the ceremony for graduates and their guests in the Plachy Hall Fieldhouse.
