According to Sessions Harlan, the keynote speaker of the commencement ceremonies, those new Triton alumni, now have to answer a big question: “What are you going to do with the moment you have been given?”

Harlan, a member of the Iowa Central Hall of Fame and a career law enforcement officer, told the graduates that they have what it takes to face the future and answer that question responsibly.

“You got this,” he said.

A total of 667 graduates received diplomas, certificates and associate degrees during two commencement ceremonies held Friday. The first was at 10 a.m.; the second at 2 p.m. Graduates walked across the stage accompanied by cheers and shouts. One graduate did a standing backflip before collecting his diploma.

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Sessions Harlan, of Denver, Colorado, gives the commencement address on Friday at Iowa Central Community College.

College President Jesse Ulrich said the commencement ceremonies were an “extraordinary milestone for our graduates.”

“Graduates, today is your day,” he said. “Nothing can take away what you achieved here.”

Graduation includes the joy of celebration and a sense of farewell, according to Mike Richards, a member of the college’s Board of Trustees.

Early in the ceremony, the graduating class presented the Golden Triton Award to two Iowa Central employees they credited with helping them through their community college years.

Andrew Wells, associate professor of business, received the faculty version of the award.

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Hayden Heatley, of Fairview, Missouri, does a celebratory backflip after receiving his diploma during Iowa Central Community College commencement ceremony on Friday.

Hunter George, an academic advisor, received the Golden Triton Award for staff members.

Addressing her fellow graduates, Erika Swanger said she at first believed that college would be just like high school.

“I could not have been more wrong,” she said.

She said as a college student, she had to learn how to live without her parents and how to live on macaroni and cheese. She said the long nights of doing homework and being responsible for themselves prepared the Class of 2026 for the future.

Swanger added that she would not have achieved as much as she did at Iowa Central without the support of the college faculty and staff.

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Family and friends applaud the graduates at the Iowa Central Community College commencement Friday in Hodges Fieldhouse.

The school was not called Iowa Central when Harlan arrived in 1966. At the time, it was called Fort Dodge Junior College and the current campus was under construction. Harlan was a basketball standout who led the local squad to a fifth place finish in the NJCAA tournament. He later went to Weber State University, in Ogden, Utah, where he helped the team to two NCAA tournament appearances.

After college he was a Denver police officer for 30 years, then did security work for the NFL, NBA and Muhammad Ali.

“Every generation must decide what kind of world they will accept and what kind of world they will build,” he said.

“As you begin your journey, stay open to change,” he told the graduates.

He said change and unexpected developments led him to where he is today. A native of Detroit, Michigan, he said Fort Dodge was “never on my radar” before he was invited to campus.

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Zha-Yaunfely Seaumantafa, of Hawaii, receives leis from his family after getting his diploma on Friday at Iowa Central Community College.

And he hadn’t thought much about a career in law enforcement until an opportunity with the Denver Police Department opened up.

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Fatuma Mohamed, of Fort Dodge, celebrates after receiving her diploma during Iowa Central Community College commencement on Friday inside Hodges Fieldhouse.

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Mehamud Ibrahim, of Ethiopia, fixes his cap before the Iowa Central Community College commencement on Friday inside Hodges Fieldhouse.

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Leo Ehn, of Fort Dodge, shakes hands with Nathaniel Darling before the Iowa Central Community College commencement on Friday inside Hodges Fieldhouse.