Statement from President Janet N. Spriggs - Forsyth Tech Community College

On Being Named the 2026 NC Community College System President of the Year

A Message from President Spriggs

I grew up on a tobacco farm in Milton, North Carolina. My path to my first college degree took twelve years, two community colleges, and more times than I can count of wondering whether I really belonged in higher education at all.

I am telling you that because it matters. It is why I do this work. And it is why this moment means so much to me.

President Spriggs at Forsyth Tech, 2019 — Dr. Spriggs stepped into the presidency in 2019 with a clear mission to close the gaps.

When I became the seventh president of Forsyth Technical Community College in 2019, our three-year graduation rate was 19%. For our Black students, it was 6%. I remember sitting with those numbers and thinking: we are going to change this. Not because we have to. Because these are our neighbors, our families, our community. Winston-Salem and Stokes County deserve better, and so do our students.

19%

3-Year Graduation Rate
when Dr. Spriggs arrived (2019)

→

45%

3-Year Graduation Rate Today —
including underrepresented minority students

The gap that used to define us is gone.

I am deeply honored to receive this recognition from the NC Community College System. But I want to be clear about something: this award belongs to the people of Forsyth Tech. It belongs to the faculty member who stayed after class, the advisor who found a student before they disappeared, the staff member who made sure no one left our campus hungry.

President Spriggs visiting students in the classroom — Meeting students where they are — in the classroom, every day.

President Spriggs reading to children in the community — Reaching families across our community — investing in the next generation.

It belongs to the employer partners who believed in students they had never met and built apprenticeships and workforce pathways around them. It belongs to Reynolds American and every partner who has been with us in the Future-Ready Workforce Alliance.

Forsyth Tech Commencement 2025 — panoramic view of graduates — More than 1,000 graduates crossed our stage in May 2025 — the largest commencement in our 65-year history.

And it belongs to the more than 1,000 graduates who crossed our stage in May 2025 in the largest commencement in our 65-year history.

It belongs to our first College Lift class — every single one of whom enrolled in college after graduation. When we launched that program, we said we were going to interrupt generational poverty one family at a time. That class proved we meant it.

Forsyth Tech faculty and staff gathered to celebrate

“It belongs to the people of Forsyth Tech — every faculty member, every advisor, every staff member, every partner who believed in students they had never met.”

— Dr. Janet N. Spriggs

President Spriggs stepping to the podium

President Spriggs with First Lady Dr. Jill Biden

Announcing the Forsyth Tech Trailblazers athletics program

President Spriggs with fire training students

President Spriggs with students at campus event

Dr. Spriggs stepping to the podium — leading with purpose every day.

I love this college. I love this community. I love what is possible when people decide together that the gaps they inherited are not the gaps they are willing to accept.

We are just getting started. And I could not be more excited about what comes next for Forsyth Tech, for Forsyth and Stokes Counties, for our students, and for each of you who makes this mission real every day.

Thank you from the bottom of my heart.

With deep gratitude and great joy,

Janet N. Spriggs, Ed.D.

President, Forsyth Technical Community College