May 14, 2019 - Carmen Ramirez vividly remembers the looks of pride on her parents’ faces when she graduated from Merced College. It’s the same looks that the Merced College Board of Trustees President hopes to see mirrored around Stadium ’76 on Friday, May 24 as she delivers the commencement speech at the 2019 Merced College Commencement Ceremony.

“I remember graduation. I remember how important it was to me, but more importantly, how proud my parents were of me,” Ramirez said. “And to now be in an opportunity to present this class to other parents, whom are celebrating their own children’s dreams being realized, is really an honor.”

A record 3,267 students are set to receive their degree or certificate for the 2018-19 academic year. Of those, 751 Associate of Arts, 461 Associate of Arts for Transfer, 149 Associate of Science, 390 Associate of Science for Transfer, 1,184 certificates of achievement and 332 certificates of proficiency will be handed out.

Included among the graduates are 11 Superintendent's honors students, who have completed at least 36 units at Merced College with a 4.0 grade point average in all other courses and colleges they have attended. There are an additional 133 honors students who have completed 45 or more units at Merced College and maintained a 3.5 GPA. The gates to the stadium will open at 5 p.m., with the ceremony set to get underway at 6 p.m.

Ramirez hopes it’ll be an evening to remember.

“It feels like an opportunity to encourage students to a path that has meant a tremendous amount to me,” Ramirez said. “Brains are important, connections are important and heart is important, but the thing that gets you to success is grit. I think that people that are from this area, that go to community college and muscle their way out and get to their job or university, that’s the kind of people that grow out of Merced College.

“That’s the kind of person that I feel like I’ve become and I think that’s what I want to impart on students.”
Source: Merced College