Miami Dade College graduates 14,000 students during historic commencement ceremonies

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About 1,500 graduates attended each of the three loanDepot Park ceremonies spread out throughout the day — a morning one for the North, Medical and West campuses; an afternoon one for the Kendall, Homestead and Padrón Campuses; and an evening one for the Wolfson and Hialeah campuses.

The graduates, donning their black gowns and decorated caps — and mandatory facial coverings — sat on the blue stadium seats, leaving about two or three spaces empty between them to allow for social distancing. They took turns to walk across the stage but substituted fist and elbow bumps for the customary handshakes and hugs..

Family members witnessed the jubilant milestone from farther up the bleachers; others viewed it on a livestream.

The commencement ceremonies proved to be atypical, not only because of the moment of silence to recognize COVID-19 victims and the vast health regulations, but also because they were the first in the college’s 62-year history to be presided over by a woman. President Madeline Pomariega, a Hialeah native and an MDC alumna herself, recently became the college’s fifth and first female president.

“It’s exciting,” Pumariega said about her glassshattering role, but she emphasized in an interview that the graduates’ accomplishments were paramount.

“So many of our students have amazing stories,” she said. “So many of them are the first in their families to ever grad

uate. They’re not traditional college students; they’re moms and dads. They’re balancing life, going through the pandemic and working to support their families.”

One of those stories is Heily Rivas’. The 17-yearold, who completed her associate’s degree through dual enrollment while home schooled, graduated Saturday alongside her dad, who finished a certificate in digital marketing at MDC at the same time. It was a familiar sight for the family: In 2014, Heily’s mom and her sister graduated together. Her brother graduated last year from MDC.

MUSICAL FAMILY

The five-member family, originally from Colombia, manages a music school in Hialeah called Rivas Music & Video and launched the Rivas Perdomo Family Foundation, a nonprofit that delivers toys, scholarships, musical instruments, clothing and shoes to underserved children in Latin America. They also have a band called Grupo H.

Heily wants to go into fashion next and someday build her own clothing brand.

“It has been a beautiful experience,” she told the Herald. “We’re all going to be proud MDC alumni. The Hialeah Campus will always be home.”

Another graduate who will happily look back at her days at MDC’s Homestead Campus is Jada Watkins, of Haitian descent.

Watkins, who dreams of becoming an anesthesiologist, said her mom struggled a lot with her own college education, ultimately dropping out to raise her three children as a single parent. Completing her AA makes Watkins the first in her family to graduate from college — a success she said belongs to her and her mother.

“She’s my No. 1 supporter. My mom has always been there for me,” said Watkins, 20. “She made it happen.”

GUEST SPEAKERS

Last year, at the onset of the novel coronavirus pandemic, colleges across the world shut their campuses and pivoted to online courses. Canceled, postponed and virtual graduations followed.

In South Florida, MDC became the first higher education institution to bring back in-person commencement ceremonies last fall. It organized five different ceremonies outdoors at the North and Kendall campuses, and allowed only graduates to go. But after rain showered down on some of the attendees, MDC decided to relocate the events for the spring.

That’s how hundreds of people ended up at formerly known-as Marlins Park. Among them, the three guest speakers:

Moderna CEO Dr. Noubar Afeyan, Miami Mayor Francis Suarez and the Miami Herald’s Executive Editor and McClatchy Florida Regional Editor Monica R. Richardson.

During his address, Afeyan noted how the company he co-founded, Moderna, created and received emergency authorization from the FDA for the COVID-19 vaccine, faster than any other vaccine in history. But it wasn’t easy.

“We were told messenger-RNA could not be turned into medicine, but we imagined a future in which it was possible, and we persevered,” he said. “My message to you, graduates, is much the same: You, too, can imagine the future you want and pioneer your way to new possibilities.”

A few hours later, Suarez assigned graduates some homework: Go home and listen to the best commencement speech he has ever heard, he told them, referring to U.S. Navy Adm. William McRaven’s famous appearance at the University of Texas-Austin in 2014. McRaven recounted 10 life lessons he learned in his training.

The mayor also centered some of his remarks around his now-trending push for Miami to become a tech hub.

“Over the past few months, Miami has entered a new and transformative moment,” he said. “Miami is now the place to be for capital, tech, ideas and innovation. Seizing this opportunity will require creativity, courage, experimentation, innovation, ambition and persistence. And all of you have it in abundance.”

Richardson, the first Black executive editor in the Herald’s 117-year history, spoke last. She gave the students extra credit for graduating during a health crisis and a racial reckoning: “Not only did you make it … you made it through a pandemic.”

“And it was set against the backdrop that America witnessed the killing of George Floyd, sparking active protests and demonstrations globally,” she added.

‘JOY STEALERS’

She then warned them against letting the “joy stealers” take hold of them. She listed hate crimes against Asian Americans, exhaustion and “the driver who lays on his horn because I failed to move the second the traffic light changed” as some of them. She jokingly described the last as “a Miami thing” she discovered after moving to the area this year.

“All these things, some major, some minor. All these things can be ‘joy stealers.’ Life is full of them,” she said.

“Never let anyone or anything steal your joy.

Joy allows you to keep dreaming.”

Jimena Tavel: 786-442-8014, @taveljimena