Both events will begin at 8 a.m. and will be held in the Amphitheatre at CSU Stanislaus, One University Circle, Turlock. The June 4 ceremonies will feature the awarding of degrees to graduates in the colleges of Business Administration, Human and Health Sciences, and Natural Sciences. On June 5, degrees will be awarded to graduates of the colleges of the Arts, Education, and Humanities and Social Sciences.
The ceremonies will feature a keynote address by Leon Panetta, Director of the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency, on June 4 and a commencement address by Dr. Marc Lamont Hill on both June 4 and 5. University President Hamid Shirvani will preside over each event and deliver additional remarks.
"We are delighted to graduate so many deserving and hard-working students from an array of six diverse colleges in the University's 50th anniversary year," Shirvani said. "Our 50th commencement ceremonies will also celebrate a half-century of accomplishment by our faculty, staff, administrators and the people of the Central Valley who brought this great university into being and have seen it flourish as one of California's great learning centers."
The June 5 ceremony will include the presentation of an honorary doctor of humane letters degree from the California State University and CSU Stanislaus to longtime civil rights leader, U.S. Navy veteran, and former Stockton school board member Jose Bernardo. The CSU board will be represented by Trustee Melinda Guzman.
Recipients of top student awards will be recognized during the ceremonies. The Metzger/Geiger Award on Friday, June 4, will reward a student with high academic achievement, and the J. Burton Vasche Award will be given on Saturday to a student who displays the highest standards of leadership, cooperation, participation, service and scholarship.
Both commencement ceremonies will include student speakers representing the 2,345 graduates. Chelsea Oliver, a nursing major, will speak on Friday, and history major Virginia Drouin-Jones will address the graduates on Saturday. The national anthem and university alma mater will be sung by Max Hosmer of the CSU Stanislaus Music Department. Additional music will be provided by the CSU Stanislaus Wind Ensemble, conducted by Andrew McMahan.
Indoor seating will be available in nearby Snider Recital Hall, where both programs can be viewed by simulcast. The two ceremonies can also be viewed live on the CSU Stanislaus commencement Web site at http://www.csustan.edu/commencement.
For more information, please visit http://www.csustan.edu/commencement.
Leon Panetta became the 19th director of the Central Intelligence Agency on Feb. 13, 2009.
Before joining CIA, he spent 10 years co-directing with his wife, Sylvia, the Leon & Sylvia Panetta Institute for Public Policy, based at California State University, Monterey Bay. The Institute is a nonpartisan, non-profit center that promotes public service.
From July 1994 to January 1997, Panetta served as chief of staff to President Clinton. Prior to that, he was director of the Office of Management and Budget, a position that built on his years of work on the House Budget Committee. He represented California's 16th (now 17th) Congressional District from 1977 to 1993, rising to Budget Committee chairman during his final four years in Congress.
Early in his career, Panetta served as a legislative assistant to Senator Thomas H. Kuchel of California, special assistant to the Secretary of Health, Education and Welfare, director of the U.S. Office for Civil Rights, and executive assistant to Mayor John Lindsay of New York. He also spent five years in private law practice. He served as an Army intelligence officer from 1964 to 1966 and received the Army Commendation Medal.
Panetta holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Political Science and a law degree, both from Santa Clara University. This is his second visit to CSU Stanislaus. Panetta also spoke on campus during the 1998 dedication ceremony for Demergasso-Bava Hall.
Marc Lamont Hill
Dr. Hill is a faculty member of the Teacher's College at Columbia University, and has an affiliated faculty appointment in African American Studies at the Institute for Research in African American Studies.
Trained as an anthropologist of education, Dr. Hill holds a Ph.D. from the University of Pennsylvania. His research focuses on the intersections between youth culture, identity and educational processes.
Dr. Hill is one of the nation's leading hip-hop generation intellectuals. His work - which covers topics such as popular culture, politics, sexuality, education and religion - has appeared in numerous publications. Dr. Hill has lectured widely and provides regular commentary for media outlets such as National Public Radio, The Washington Post, Essence Magazine and The New York Times.
Jose Bernardo
He was instrumental in the establishment of a center through which the Associated Filipino Organizations promote educational and cultural awareness and provide support for the under-served, disadvantaged and senior citizens in the greater Stockton area.
He served on the Stockton Unified School District Board of Education for 12 years and on the Civil Service Commission and the Equal Opportunity Commission of San Joaquin County.
Bernardo served in the U.S. Navy in China and during the Korean War. He received his Associate in Arts Degree in Engineering from Stockton College and attended the University of California, Berkeley and the Industrial Training Institute. He is a small-business owner who has successfully operated JB Construction & Engineering for more than 30 years.