Albany Technical College sets fall graduation
Nov. 27—ALBANY — Dougherty Superior Court Judge Victoria S. Darrisaw will be the keynote speaker Tuesday when Albany Technical College's commencement celebrating the accomplishments of graduates for fall 2022 will be held at 7 p.m. at the James H. Gray Civic Center.
Candidates for technical certificates of credit, diplomas, associate's degrees, and high school equivalencies will be recognized for their accomplishments. A video of the ceremony will be released on Albany Tech's YouTube Channel and Mediacom Channel 19.
The fall 2022 ATC commencement is scheduled to be rebroadcast as noted:
—MediaCom Cable Channel 19: Friday-Monday, Dec. 2-9, 1 p.m. and 9 p.m.;
—WASU-FM 92.7: Saturday, 11 a.m.; Dec. 8, noon
Graduates picked up caps and gowns at an event in October and had an opportunity to purchase class rings.
"We are happy to announce that ATC has a total graduating class of 576 students with an overall sum of awards totaling 624 for the fall 2022 commencement," Albany Tech Registrar Kennosha Hawkins said in a news release. "This includes technical certificates of credit, diploma or associate's degrees."
"We are very proud of the achievements of these recent graduates," ATC President Emmett Griswold said. "It has taken a lot of hard work to reach their goals, and we know they will represent Albany Technical College well as they enter the work force or continue their education."
Darrisaw was appointed to the Dougherty Superior Court on Aug. 8, 2018, by Gov. Nathan Deal. She was re-elected countywide in 2020. Previously, Darrisaw served as chief judge of Dougherty State Court from 2012 to 2018 (after her election to an open seat) and as a Magistrate Judge from 2009 to 2012. Before taking the bench, Darrisaw served as a prosecuting attorney in both the Dougherty Judicial Circuit (ending her prosecutorial career as a Senior Assistant District Attorney) and in the South Georgia Judicial Circuit.
Darrisaw was born in South Carolina but reared in Atlanta, where she obtained her undergraduate degree from Spelman College. She earned her Juris Doctorate degree from the Walter F. George School of Law at Mercer University, where she was a member of the Moot Court Board and the ABA moot court competition team. She received the International Academy of Trial Lawyers Student Advocacy Award upon graduation.
After graduating from law school, Darrisaw served as a judicial law clerk to Bibb Superior Court Judges W. Louis Sands and Tommy Day Wilcox. Thereafter, she served as a federal law clerk to USDJ W. Louis Sands in the Albany Division.
In addition to maintaining a full civil and criminal caseload, Darrisaw currently presides over the Dougherty County Mental Health Substance Abuse Treatment court. This accountability court was started by the late Judge Steve Goss and has the distinction of being the first felony-level mental health court in Georgia. Darrisaw also acts as presiding judge for the Dougherty Department of Community Supervision's Day Reporting Center, a program that offers an alternative to incarceration for active probationers.
She is an active member of the Council of Superior Court Judges and the Council of Accountability Court Judges. Darrisaw serves on the boards of, or is a member of, the following organizations: Easterseals of Southern Georgia Inc., Albany Rotary Club, Boys and Girls Clubs of Albany, Junior League of Albany (sustainer), Albany Area Primary Health Care, and Albany Bank and Trust. She is a member of the Leadership Albany Class of 2009 and the Leadership Georgia Class of 2013. In September 2022, Darrisaw was appointed by the Georgia Supreme Court to serve on the Investigative Panel of the Judicial Qualifications Commission.
Note: ASU-TV 19 broadcasts throughout the Albany area and surrounding southwest Georgia counties on Mediacom Channel 19 and on campus on College Cable on Channel 7. The graduation also will be broadcast on WASU-FM 92.7, which is the local college radio station.
