Fresno City College’s first of two in-person commencements celebrates graduates
With temperatures in the low 90s, the Fresno City College Class of 2020 and Class of 2021 graduates celebrated their accomplishments with loved ones as the community college returned to in-person commencement this year after the COVID-19 pandemic cancelled the festivities last year. The last in-person ceremony was held in 2019.
The Wednesday (June 23) evening outdoors commencement at Chukchansi Park in downtown Fresno was the first of two ceremonies being held to accommodate the large numbers of graduates as both ceremonies included the Class of 2020 and the Class of 2021.
The second ceremony will take place at 8 p.m. on Thursday (June 24) at Chukchansi Park and will also be live streamed through CMAC (Community Media Access Collaborative) on its website and on its YouTube channel.
The ceremonies were divided by Ram Pathway major of each student. Wednesday’s commencement included graduates in the Business and Health & STEM majors, while Thursday’s will include graduates in the Culture, Education & Society; Arts, Communication & Language; and Tech & Trades majors.
According to Kathy Bonilla, FCC public information officer, originally this year’s commencement was going to be a virtual celebration due to COVID-19 restrictions.
However Fresno City College changed its plans once it was apparent the pandemic conditions were improving, and an in-person ceremony was possible. The college, the state’s oldest community college, moved its commencement from May to June to have time to plan an outdoor event, according to Bonilla.
All graduates were required to RSVP for the ceremony and were only allowed four guests each as there were still some uncertainties of what the pandemic restriction would be currently be in place.
With 2,006 graduates, the Class of 2020 was the largest class ever in the history of the college at the time. However, the record was broken this year with the Class of 2021 consisting of 2,314 graduates who worked hard to finish their degrees despite the COVID-19 pandemic challenges including taking online classes during the difficult time.
This year’s 2021 FCC Dean’s Medallion Award recipients are:
▪ Lou Moua, Allied Health, Physical Education and Athletics Division;
▪ Irene Vuong, Applied Technology Division;
▪ Sylas Ramos, Business Education Division;
▪ Brianna Beltrán, Fine, Performing and Communications Arts Division;
▪ De Colette Quezada, Guidance & Counseling Division;
▪ Ivana Matias, Humanities Division;
▪ Jalana Gage, Library & Student Learning Support Services Division;
▪ Claudia Luna, Math, Science & Engineering Division; and
▪ Destiny Corrales, Social Sciences Division
The winners were selected by the dean of each division based on academic excellence, their abilities to overcome obstacles and face adversity to celebrate their exceptional achievements.
Ramos was also chosen by President Carole Goldsmith to receive this year’s Tony Cantú President’s Medallion. The award honors the late president who served the students of the State Center Community College District before he died in 2015.
