Pulitzer finalist, nursing class highlight Oakton commencement

Oakton Community College will graduate 215 students during commencement ceremonies Tuesday at the school's Des Plaines campus.

Commencement speaker John Sullivan is an Oakton alumnus and investigative journalist for The Philadelphia Inquirer. He was a 2009 Pulitzer Prize finalist for his reporting on how political interests have eroded the mission of the Environmental Protection Agency and a winner of multiple other awards.

Karen Haigh will receive the Distinguished Alumna Award. She is an assistant professor at Columbia College in Chicago specializing in early childhood education.

Both Haigh and Sullivan graduated from Oakton with an associate degree; Haigh in 1974 and Sullivan in 1990.

Student Leadership Awards will be given out to Alex Agafonov, Mamma Dedee Fnu, Shawn Manaloto, Asmaa Shafiq and Neha Shafizadah.

The graduating class includes 48 nursing students among the 215 earning associate degrees.

The ceremony will be held at 7 p.m. in the Ten Hoeve Center. It also will be broadcast on Oakton's cable channel.