Eight Marion Tech alumni welcomed into MTC's Alumni Hall of Fame

Something more valuable than a degree from Marion Tech brought seven MTC alumni together Thursday to be inducted into the college's Alumni Hall of Fame: career success and service to the community. 

In the 6th annual Alumni Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony, inductees from 2020 and 2021 were celebrated by the Marion Technical College community, surrounded by their families, friends and nominators. 

The event was born six years ago when Dr. Ryan McCall became MTC's president and proposed the idea of the Alumni Hall of Fame to his executive team as an effort to connect the Marion community to MTC alumni.

He proudly stood in front of the Marion Tech community Thursday, celebrating the school's success stories ranging from 1987 graduates to the latest in 2017: alumni committed to their career paths and their communities, the two main categories for how alumni are selected.

"For every student who walks through our doors, our goal is to help impact and change their life, and I think the stories you heard last night have been ongoing since the time the institution began through today and continue to have an impact on students' lives and therefore an impact on our community," McCall reflected on the event Friday.

Four inductees were chosen for the 2021 hall of fame: Shannon Bryant, class of 1995, Jerry Call, class of 1988, Jessica Coleman, class of 2017, and Jaron Knotts, class of 2015.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Marion Tech did not hold an awards ceremony for 2020 hall of fame inductees, so Johnis M. Tyler Gribbin, class of 1993 and 1994, Harold May, class of 2010, and Ritch Ramey, class of 1987, were honored alongside the 2021 honorees. Another 2020 inductee, Krista Mulvaine, class of 1995, was unable to attend the event.

Alumni voices and community impact

Inductees traveled to Marion from as far south as Texas, with Bryant flying in from Fort Worth to be welcomed into the hall of fame. 

Bryant is the Executive Vice President for Corporate Solutions and Economic Development with the Tarrant County College District in Fort Worth, Texas, which falls in the top 20 higher education institutions in the United States.

A Marion-native, she came to the event surrounded by her family. She is grateful the way MTC shaped her career in higher education, and her life came full-circle when she accepted the position with Tarrant County College.

"I was thinking about this on the plane, you know, I felt a certain kind of way about going to a community college, but now it's really cool for me, because as I see our students engage with our employers in Texas, I can actually say 'I am a community college product,' and this is very cool for me to come back," Bryant said.

For Knotts, who is currently serving as Clinical Outcomes Manager for Patient Safety with OhioHealth, he knew he wanted to be a nurse from an early age when, as a young boy, he helped out at a local nursing home. Marion Tech made that a reality.

After MTC, Knotts went on to earn his Bachelor's of Nursing in 2016 and a master's degree in Healthcare Innovation in the spring of 2021.

"This really allowed me to have an affordable education, a high-quality education to be honest. I always say that getting my associate's degree was probably one of the hardest thing I've done, and I've gotten my bachelor's and my master's now," Knotts said.

The 2020 inductees were not overlooked. Tyler Gribbin took seven years to work toward her two degrees from MTC in business management and marketing management. At the time, she was going to school while also raising her kids and, at times, working as many as three jobs.

She received her award next to her daughter, LaToya Tyler, who nominated her for the hall of fame after knowing the sacrifices her mom made to support their family while earning her degrees. According to Tyler Gribbin, it was a time of hard work, but she wouldn't take it back.

"I felt really good about coming here because I wasn't the traditional student, but it didn't matter. You were a part of the family. That was one of the things I liked most about Marion Tech," she said. "I didn't care how long it took, I just wanted a degree."

The theme of service-minded impact didn't stop there. Other 2021 inductees, Jessica Coleman, founder of Legacy Mentoring Group, and Jerry Call, Senior Project Manager with R.D. Stoltz Engineering who has served with local youth sports and the River Valley School Board, have poured out countless hours for the youth of Marion County.

2020 honorees, Harold May, a Marine Corps veteran and Warden of Toledo Correctional Institution and Ritch Ramey, who served as RAMTEC's Ohio Coordinator for many years and currently works as Chief Operations Officer at I4.0Strategies, have shown dedication to taking what they've learned and leading others well.

"I think last night was a lot of hearing about how they impacted the community, especially closer to home," McCall said.

Each inductee received an award and will receive a plaque in MTC's Bryson Hall. Each inductee will also select a book to be featured in the Marion Campus Library. For the full list of members of Marion Tech's Alumni Hall of Fame visit their website.

Story by: Sophia Veneziano (740) 564 - 5243 | sveneziano@gannett.com