Changing Live Daily

LCCC’s Laramie Campus a springboard for success

Laramie County Community Collegeʼs Laramie Campus library is a relatively quiet place, but for the last several years, it’s had a rather large presence as a constant. 

Leland Weber is something of a fixture on the Laramie Campus, known for his helpful presence and dedication. As a staff member in the library, his daily tasks ranged from assisting students with book checkouts to navigating them through the complexities of research materials and managing the 3D printer. Most staff members and many students know Leland and see him as a reliable, positive force on campus.  

“If I can’t answer a question in the library, I’ll find someone who can, whether that’s someone here on campus or online; I’ll exhaust everything until I find the answer,” Leland says with a laugh. 

And perhaps more importantly, Leland stands out as a testament to the life-changing power of education. As Leland has now graduated with a bachelor’s in Business Management, his departure will signal the end of an impactful era at the Laramie Campus, a chapter marked by growth, learning and proving it’s never too late to start over. 

As a first-generation and nontraditional student, Leland’s journey from facing personal challenges to standing on the brink of graduation is an exceptional story of overcoming obstacles to arrive at one’s goals. It underscores the transformative role of education and the supportive community that can make transformations such as Leland’s possible at LCCC’s Laramie Campus.

Damien Kortum, Dean for Academic Affairs, says the Laramie Campus serves an important role in the broader educational ecosystem of southeast Wyoming. 

“LCCC’s service area encompasses Albany and Laramie counties, making it our duty to provide community college support to our communities,” Damien says. “We provide low-cost, high-quality coursework and programming for those seeking smaller classes and a sense of community. That’s not necessarily something you can get at the University of Wyoming.”

Whether it was the staff, instructors or administrators, Leland is emphatic that he owes his success to those who have helped him at LCCC. 

“The prime strength of the Laramie Campus is its sense of community,” he says. “Every single person who works at the Laramie Campus invests in the importance of campus community as the best means of developing excellence.”

The Laramie Campus caters to a diverse student body, from those completing their high school equivalency to university students filling gaps in their schedules, to community members enriching their lives through education. 

“Our goal is to meet students where they are and help them get where they’re going,” Damien says.

In trying to help high school students get on the right post-graduation track, Damien notes that dual and concurrent enrollment programs at the Laramie Campus are having an increased positive impact on the community, highlighting a near 100% increase in dual enrollment numbers in recent years. Programs like the Credit Diploma in Culinary Arts and Automotive Fundamentals not only offer high school students college credentials, but also inspire them to pursue further education, showcasing the campus’s commitment to practical education with outstanding rewards, Damien says. The Culinary Arts and Automotive Fundamentals programs are currently only available to Laramie High School students. 

Leland’s success story is one of many that Damien thinks about when considering how the Laramie Campus makes a difference. Every graduate from the Laramie Campus, he says, is an important success that should be celebrated. Whatever stage in life students come to the Laramie Campus—young or old, new to college or returning—Damien says it’s a springboard to a world of possibility. That, he says, is a positive thing for everyone in southeast Wyoming.

“LCCC is a broader community of support, and we are all invested in our students’ success, from the president on down,” Damien says. “A win at the Laramie Campus is a win for all of us.”