For the first time in the school’s history, American River College is extending its commencement ceremony to a two-day event that will allow students to increase the amount of guests they have present for their big moment.
Lisa Cardoza, ARC’s president, says she doesn’t believe that students should have to have rough conversations with family members that involve letting them know they can’t attend their loved ones’ graduation.
“It’s hard for me to imagine our students having to choose who stays home and who gets to witness this special moment,” Cardoza said in an email to faculty members
The two ceremonies will take place on May 16 and May 17. Students will know what day to attend based on the major that their degree is in. Both days will see the doors open at 6 p.m. for guests, and the ceremonies themselves begin at 7 p.m.
Students obtaining a degree in business, STEM, manufacturing, construction & transportation and public safety will have their ceremony held on May 16, while the May 17 ceremony will be celebrating those graduating with degrees in People, Culture, & Society, Arts, Health & Education and Language & Communication.
This change is one that was planned ahead of time. Kaitlyn Collignon, ARC’s public information officer, says the conversation around added dates started last year.
“We knew we were looking at making some significant changes to graduation after last year given the number of students that graduate and the limited number of guests we are able to accommodate,” Collignon said in an email to the Current.
The ARC staff still had a difficult choice to make, however. Committing to a change like this for the very first time is much tougher than it seems.
“After considering our options and discussing those options with the leadership team and constituency leaders, we decided to move forward with splitting the graduation into two ceremonies,” Collignon said.
Dominick Cabrera, who will be graduating with a degree in Physical Science/Mathematics, says he is in favor of the change.
“I think ARC hosting the two separate graduation ceremonies is a good idea,” Cabrera said. “I think having two separate ceremonies allows the graduates of each respective graduation group to have a more personalized ceremony, not just for them but for their families and friends as well.”
Collignon also had praise for the campus and community alike.
“The campus has been very supportive,” Collignon said. “We appreciate their willingness to try a new graduation format so students can celebrate this important occasion with more of their family and friends.”
This attempt at a new structure to the graduation ceremony could stick if the first attempt works out well.
“As long as this year is successful and creates the wonderful and celebratory graduation for students that we hope for, we will likely do two ceremonies moving forward,” Collignon said.
ARC hopes to make this a permanent change for the future, according to Collignon.
“We will debrief and collect feedback following the graduation ceremonies to see what we can do to make this experience even better for our graduates,” Collignon said.
