CSUMB SEES RECORD NUMBER OF GRADS
SEASIDE >> A record number of graduates walked across the stage at California State University Monterey Bay this weekend.
This year's graduation celebrated 2,345 graduation candidates from 25 states and 35 countries.
“Whether they come from Marina or Malaysia, each of our students has his or her own unique story of accomplishments,” Provost Katherine Kantardjieff told the crowd at the Saturday afternoon ceremony.
Ceremonies took place Friday afternoon, Saturday morning and Saturday afternoon at the newly renovated Cardinale Stadium on campus. The graduation ceremonies were also livestreamed.
Monterey Bay Football Club privately invested over $11 million in renovations to the existing stadium and facilities. The newly renovated stadium serves as the Club's home field and will feature the college's men's and women's soccer teams and serve as a place for events like festivals and commencement.
Masks and proof of vaccination were not required, and the ceremony largely resembled prepandemic graduations. However, the university's president, Eduardo M. Ochoa, tested positive for COVID-19 and was unable to attend Saturday's graduations.
Many of this year's graduates spent more of their college experience affected by the COVID-19 pandemic than not. Most were sophomores when their twoweek spring break turned into a month-long quarantine.
Saturday afternoon's student speaker, Ethan Quaranta, addressed the pandemic's impact on his graduating class's collective university experience.
“I know how hard, in particular, it was to be a student — let alone being a student leader — during pandemic times in particular,” he admitted. “To the class of 2022, we deserve this moment of celebration, perhaps more than any other graduating class in history today. …We had to overcome so much more than the typical barriers to get here.”
For environmental studies major, Alisa Lopez, the ceremony was a “long time coming.” She said it was wonderful that the outdoor, restriction-free celebration felt like being back to normal.
Graduates were presented to the provost, and at last able to walk across the stage and shake hands with the platform party. The stadium erupted in cheers and applause as graduates moved their tassels to the left side of their caps, signaling the completion of their undergraduate degree and time at CSUMB.
“You are Otters, and the world is your oyster,” the keynote speaker, Dr. Larry Samuels, told the graduating class. Samuels is the vice president for strategic
initiatives for CSUMB and the executive director of the University Corporation
Saturday afternoon's graduation ceremony also featured an honorary degree recipient — Helen Rucker.
Rucker, a retired educator and longtime community activist, worked as a teacher and librarian for Monterey Peninsula Unified School District. After retiring, she devoted her time to activism and civil rights, working with and leading numerous organizations to address significant community issues including HIV/ AIDS prevention, mental health services, police reform, low-income housing, civil rights and voter education and registration. She founded the Seaside Voter Education Center in 2008, where she advocated for voting rights.
In February, she was honored with the key to the city of Seaside and last month, CSUMB renamed the Center for Black Student Success to the Helen Rucker Center for Black Excellence.
“We are in a critical time in our lives, in our democracy. And I want you to pledge to me today — just do it silently — pledge that you're going to do your best for us to maintain our democratic institutions that we've worked so hard to try to bring you all,” she told the class of 2022 graduates. “Please, honor me by making sure that we maintain, particularly, our voting rights.”