Diondre Hawthorne was in the wrong place at the wrong time when he was a senior at Edison High School in Stockton.

When we began using #WarriorStrong at Stan State, we may have been thinking about Bethany Harper.

Adriana Gamboa likes to say she didn’t choose Stan State.

Family always has come first for Germán Astorga.

John Molthen had no real concept of college when he began his Stanislaus State journey.

When she arrived in the United States as a 13-year-old immigrant from Mexico, Juana Nieto Vazquez didn’t speak a word of English.

For two hours every morning, Maria Rocha would board a public bus and make her way from her hometown of Dos Palos to Stan State for her first class.

Samantha Thomas found her groove at Stanislaus State.

For years, Benjamin “Ed” Fitzpatrick and his wife Bertha were regulars at Stanislaus State basketball games. While they were ardent supporters of athletics, they also were known for breaking racial barriers, championing the merits of education and creating opportunities that uplifted people and communities.

On May 28, Stanislaus State and the California State University awarded their highest honor, the Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters, to Bertha Fitzpatrick and her late husband Ed during the morning Commencement ceremony honoring the Class of 2021.