Lenoir Community College will hold its 61st commencement at 7 p.m. May 11 in the Student Center with Dr. Deborah Grimes as the guest speaker. Admission to the ceremony is by ticket only as seating is limited. More than 350 graduates are eligible to receive degrees.

Graduation will be livestreamed on the College’s website at www.lenoircc.edu for those who are unable to attend.

A graduate of LCC, Dr. Grimes transferred to East Carolina University and earned her bachelor’s and master’s degrees and a doctorate degree in Higher Education Leadership.

A leader among North Carolina educators, Dr. Grimes served as Senior Vice President of Instruction and Student Services at Lenoir Community College (LCC) from 2016 to 2021. Prior to that, she served as the college’s Vice President of Academic and Student Services from 2010 to 2016. Additionally, from 2006 to 2010, she served as the College’s Director of Institutional Effectiveness and as Assistant to the President, interim Dean of Arts and Sciences, and interim Dean of Business and Industry. Before coming to LCC in 2006, she had been employed by Caswell Center, Howell Centers Inc., and Lenoir County Public Schools. 

She is credited with obtaining multiple grants to assist the College in its quest to provide quality education and training including the Lumina Grant, the Lenoir County Early College High School Cooperative Innovation High School Grant, the Allied Health Enhancement Grant, the NC Works Career Coach Grant, and the NC Works Career Pathways, to name a few.

She served on the Board of Trustees of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC) from 2016 to 2021. She served as an evaluator with the regional accrediting agency from 2008 to 2016, and she also served as the Chair of Committee E of the Fifth-Year Interim Report from 2018 to 2021.

Dr. Grimes has served in many capacities at the state level including the Community College Chief Academic Officers Association, the North Carolina Community College Performance Partnership Committee, the Performance Measures Adjustment Committee, and Eastern Region Director and president-elect of the Community College Planning and Research Organization (CCPRO).  She was the recipient of the National Institute for Staff and Organizational Development (NISOD) Excellence Award in 2009, and she is a graduate of the North Carolina Association of Community College Leadership Program and the North Carolina Association of Community College Trustees Future President’s Institute. 

Her love for this community and LCC is evident in all that she does. She has served as the chair of the Lenoir County Chamber of Commerce and chair of the Education Committee. She has served as chair of both Howell Centers and Caswell Development Center’s Human Rights Committees. She has also served as the chair of the State Employees Credit Union Advisory Board in Kinston. Dr. Grimes has served on numerous special committees with Lenoir County Public Schools and has served as the chair of the board of the United Way of Lenoir and Greene Counties as well as the board of the Rotary Club of Kinston. She currently serves as vice-chairman on the Advisory Board with the NCSECU, Airport Road Branch.

Her recent retirement has brought her back to LCC, where she currently serves as a consultant for the College’s reaffirmation of accreditation. She also serves as a Substantive Change Reviewer for the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges. Dr. Grimes is an adjunct faculty and teaches in the Doctoral program in Higher Education Leadership at the Watson College of Education at the University of North Carolina in Wilmington. She has served on UNCW and East Carolina University’s College of Education Advisory Boards and is a founding partner and facilitator for UNCW’s Aspiring Leaders.