2024-05 College Report

May 7, 2024 —

2024 Commencement

students celebrating at commencement

This year the FCC Commencement Ceremony will be held at the Save Mart Center on Monday, May 20 at 6:30 p.m. Close to 2500 students have earned degrees this year and are eligible to participate in the ceremony. Degrees include Associate in Science and Associate in Arts degrees; and Associate Degrees for Transfer. This year’s keynote speaker and Distinguished Alumnus Award recipient is Dr. Lance V. Truong, a 2012 graduate and Dean’s Medallion Award recipient.

Cultural and Completion Celebrations

Below is a listing of celebrations leading up to the main ceremony. It includes various cultural events, a ceremony recognizing students who have earned a certificate of achievement, and the Dean’s Medallion Ceremony.

ASIAN PACIFIC ISLANDER CELEBRATION OF SUCCESS- held May 4 in the Cafeteria to celebrate the success of the Asian Pacific Islander students.

2024 RAINBOW GRADUATION CELEBRATION-- held on May 6 in the OAB West Courtyard to celebrate the LGBTQ student community.

COUNTDOWN TO GRADUATION PARTY—a new event held on May 7 in Veterans Square to build excitement leading up to graduation.

DEAN’S MEDALLION CEREMONY— on May 9 in OAB 251 at 6:00 p.m. to recognized this year’s Dean’s Medallion Award recipients.

CERTIFICATE CEREMONY— to recognize students receiving a Certificate of Achievement this year. It will be held on Friday, May 10 at 5:30 p.m. in the FCC Gym.

LATINO GRADUATION CELEBRATION— Saturday, May 11 from 9:00 AM-11:00 a.m. in the FCC Gym with keynote speaker, Dr. Felipe Mercado.

2024 BLACK GRADUATION CELEBRATION— Saturday, May 11 in the Gym from 3:00 – 5:00 p.m. to honor the achievements of African American students.

Employee Recognition Ceremony

Employees shaking hands

On April 30, the Employee Recognition Ceremony was held in the FCC Cafeteria. Twenty-one retirees were honored for their dedication and service to the college. Over 100 faculty and staff were recognized for their years of service and seven Emeriti Faculty were introduced and will participate in this year’s Commencement Ceremony.

Student Award

Student Brandon Marroquin, has been recognized by the California Department of Education, Outreach and Technical Assistance Network (OTAN), as a California Adult Education Successful Student. Brandon was nominated by Lisa Vincent, FCC coordinator of Adult Education, and received his GED in 2021 from Central Adult School and was assisted by FCC’s Adult Education Department to transition to college as a Computer Science major. Brandon also is employed as a Student Worker at the SCCCD office, IT Department. Brandon was featured on an ABC30 news story about Adult Education and recently gave a motivational presentation to students at FCC’s Open House for Adult School Students.

Torch of Excellence

Several athletics wearing award

The 28th Torch of Excellence was held on May 1 at the Clovis Veterans Memorial District Building. The Rams had eleven Chancellor recipients who earned a 4.0 GPA for two semesters, 109 President’s recipients who earned a GPA of 3.51 – 4.0 for the spring or fall semester and 71 Dean’s recipients who maintained a 3.2 – 3.5 GPA for the spring or fall semester of 2023. Dual sport player (Basketball and Volleyball), Katelyn Goforth, was named the Female Athlete of the Year and Joshua Rengstorf from the men’s tennis team was named the Male Athlete of the Year.

Always First

Flag of Fresno City College We have always been proud that Fresno City College is the first community college established in California. This is a verified fact by the State Chancellor’s Office and the Community College League of California. Local filmmaker Kaylee Josefina has created a 5-minute short documentary about FCC’s history for the Big Tell 2024, a local program by CMAC, Community Media Access Collaborative. Documentaries feature stories from California’s great Central Valley. A panel of judges evaluated the film concepts based on criteria including film subject, diversity among filmmakers and the stories they tell, and how the film will contribute to the rich and compelling narrative of the Central Valley. Kaylee’s documentary “The First” explores how FCC “became the catalyst for reshaping the entire system of higher education in America” and why it’s still significant today.

City to State Recognition Ceremony

Pimentel and Jimenez-Sandoval signing

On April 5, a memo of understanding was signed by FCC President Robert Pimentel and Fresno State President Saúl Jiménez-Sandoval. The City to State Transfer Program is intended to help streamline and improve the transfer process so that FCC continues its status of being the largest transfer feeder community college to Fresno State. The agreement calls for the hiring of a dedicated counselor at FCC who is familiar with the transfer process and curriculums of both institutions. FCC and Fresno State will equally fund this dual position. The three-year agreement will go into effect by this fall.

Faculty Member selected for National Justice Program

Dr. Kathleen Arambula-Reyna, FCC coordinator for the Community Change Fellowship program, has been chosen to collaborate with the nationally recognized Shirley Chisolm Legacy Project. She will participate as a panelist to help develop multiple Environmental Justice pathways to successful applicant colleges across the nation. The program is scheduled to launch in 2025 and will be implemented across the nation in select educational institutions.

National Skilled Trades Day

On Wednesday, May 1, KSEE24/CBS47 featured the FCC Welding Program throughout their morning shows as part of National Skilled Trades Day which is observed annually on the first Wednesday in May. Welding instructor, Brett Camacho and several of his students were featured and conducted live interviews and welding demonstrations. This special day was established in 2019 to raise awareness about the value of the skilled trades workforce in the United States and honor skilled trades workers.

New Wrinkles: A Million Dreams

A Million Dreams The popular senior revue will start a new season on May 30 with an opening night fundraiser in the theatre courtyard at 6:00 p.m. and the performance at 7:00 p.m. Tickets for this fundraiser and other performances are available online through the FCC Box Office.