DOWAGIAC — A number of Southwestern Michigan College employees were presented with service pins for their work and dedication to the college Monday.

SMC Vice Chairman Keith McKenzie presented a five-year service pin to Chief of Staff Tom Atkinson at the Monday Board of Trustees meeting on the Dowagiac campus. Atkinson, a graduate of the FBI National Academy in Quantico, Virgina, and the School of Police Staff and Command through Northwestern University Center for Public Safety, spent 26 years with the Cass County Sheriff’s Office, retiring as Major Crimes Task Force commander and captain of the Uniform Division and Detective Bureau. Atkinson, who has a bachelor’s degree from Bethel College, was also Dowagiac Director of Public Safety for three years and Chief of Police for 14 years.

SMC Trustee Todd Obren presented a 10-year service pin to Financial Aid Office loan coordinator Lori Collins of Dowagiac. Collins earned her associate degree in accounting from SMC and started at the college as an accounting clerk in the Business Office after working for Dowagiac Union Schools.

Cathy Luthringer, of Cassopolis and the Niles Campus admissions advisor, started at the college as a Testing Center technician. She earned dual certificates in office administration and medical transcription from SMC. Previously, Luthringer was the self-employed owner of a small pizza and sub shop, a realtor and a cemetery monument company sales manager. SMC Trustee Beth Cripe awarded her 10-year service pin Monday at the Board of Trustees meeting on the Dowagiac campus.