Rappahannock Community College president Dr. Shannon Kennedy has been selected for the first class of the Aspen Institute College Excellence Program’s Aspen Presidents Fellowship.

This program, made possible with support from JPMorgan Chase, focuses on developing a sustainable and comprehensive reform agenda that advances excellence and equity in student outcomes at scale, a release stated.

This inaugural class of fellows represents the diversity of the nation’s community colleges, the release said. They lead institutions across 14 states that collectively educate over 280,000 students in incredibly varied settings, from a rural college of 700 students to an urban one with enrollment over 24,000. The incoming class of Presidents Fellows is 56 percent women and 44 percent people of color.

Selected through a competitive process, the fellows will, over the next 12 months, work closely with a faculty of leading community college presidents and senior staff from the Aspen Institut...