State Representative Susan Manchester will give the address at the commencement ceremony on Saturday, May 6th, 2023 at 10 a.m. for Rhodes State College. Over 250 students will graduate this year and 140 are scheduled to participate in the College’s 53rd annual commencement ceremony.
State Representative Susan Manchester is serving her third term in the Ohio House of Representatives. She represents the 78th District, which encompasses Allen County and the northern portion of Auglaize County.
Growing up on the family farm in Waynesfield, Ohio, Manchester went on to graduate from The Ohio State University in 2010 with degrees in Psychology and Political Science. She worked in Washington D.C. for Congressman Jim Jordan, where she focused on policies such as agriculture, health care, business and education. Upon returning to Ohio in 2016, Manchester took a position with a non-profit organization focused on mentoring children.
Manchester was first elected to the General Assembly in 2018. During her time in the legislature, Representative Manchester chaired the House Families, Aging, and Human Services Committee, and also served as a member of the House Health Committee and House Primary and Secondary Education Committee. Additionally, she was appointed to the Health Oversight and Advisory Committee in 2021.
Additionally, Representative Manchester introduced and passed several important bills that addressed needs she saw in her district; many of these bills are now state law. Notable bills she had signed into law include the Beginning Farmer Tax Credit Program, which helps assist one generation of farmers to the next agricultural assets are rented and sold and ultimately fosters a strong agricultural presence in the state. She also closed a dangerous loophole in Ohio law by expanding the Ohio Revised Code to criminalize the use or manipulation of a controlled substance addiction as a method of human trafficking.
Following this graduation, nearly 20,000 will have graduated from the College since its establishment in 1971.
