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Tiffany Peppers Named Distinguished Alumna
CLC alumna the Rev. Tiffany Peppers highly values education, so much so that she’s pursuing a doctoral degree.
CLC played a major role in setting her on her path, and now the college is celebrating her success by selecting her as the 2023 Distinguished Alumna. As the recipient of this award, she was nominated for the statewide award selected by the Illinois Community College Trustees Association.
Peppers didn’t go to college immediately a er high school. Instead, she worked for a few months before enrolling at CLC in January 1999. She took classes on and o for eight years before transferring to Columbia College of Missouri to earn her bachelor’s degree in 2010.
Peppers continued her education by earning an MBA from Olivet Nazarene University, and she’s currently working toward a doctoral degree from Walden University.
Much of Peppers’ professional career is running JIC Community Development Corporation, a nonpro t dedicated to educating and empowering youth in Waukegan. She also serves as Chief of Sta for Jesus Name Apostolic Church in Waukegan. She chose the nonpro t route because she wanted her work to bene t others.
Peppers continues to be a part of CLC, serving as the chair of the CLC Foundation Board of Directors and as member of the Lakeshore Campus Advisory Committee. She is also a member of the CLC African American Outreach Community.
“I could not have succeeded at a four-year university when I rst began,” Peppers said. “I did not have the support structure, and I was not prepared for a college education. I needed a community college where the community was engaged in my education and allowed me to grow into academic independence and personal maturity. I chose to stay home and go to school because I didn’t feel ready to leave home, but CLC helped me to become ready and gave me a great education.”
Along with her work at JIC, Peppers was recently named the rst woman pastor of Jesus Name Apostolic Church in Waukegan.