Report to Board: June 2024

2024 Commencement

The 2024 Commencement Ceremony was held on May 20 at 6:30 p.m. at the Save Mart Center. This year, 2500 students were eligible to participate in the ceremony. Those students earned a total of 2,755 degrees. Over 1,300 graduates participated in the ceremony with over 14,000 family and friends attending graduation filling up the arena.

Commencement News Coverage:

Fresno State News: First-generation grad student earns university’s highest honor.

ABC30: FCC Ceremony held at Save Mart Center (download)

2024 Dean's medallion Reipients

Fresno City College is pleased to announce the Dean’s Medallion of Excellence Award winners for 2024. The recipients received their medallions in a special ceremony on May 9. Each recipient received a $500 scholarship. Rafael Sebastian Gomez from the Social Sciences Division was awarded the Tony Cantu President’s Medallion given in honor of former President, Tony Cantu, who passed away in April 2015.

Police Academy Graduation

The graduation ceremony for Class 174 is scheduled for Friday, June 28 at 11:00 a.m. at People’s Church. There are 46 police cadets in the class with 39 slated to be badged by nine different agencies at the ceremony.

Fresno Mission Signing Day

On June 21, President Pimentel will participate in the Fresno Mission Signing Day recognizing 27 residents who have registered for a Language Arts course for the fall semester. Each student will receive a certificate with a commitment to continue their education. The ceremony will be held at the City Center and will conclude with a luncheon.

Pride Flag Raising

The 4th Annual Pride Flag Raising Ceremony was held on May 31 at the flagpole in front of Building A. Dr. Lataria Hall, Vice President of Student Services provided the welcome with SCCCD Trustee Nasreen Johnson and Chancellor Goldsmith providing remarks. The Pride Flag was raised by two FCC students representing the LGBTQ+ community on campus.

Pride Parade and Festival

The FCC Outreach team and Rainbow Alliance Staff & Faculty Association organized this year’s parade entry at the Fresno Rainbow Pride Parade. The college and the FCC RASFA were named as Grand Marshals for the parade held on June 1 in the Tower District. For the fourth year, FCC was the venue for the Pride Festival that was held on the same day. A portion of the proceeds from the festival benefit the Rainbow Alliance Staff and Faculty Association.

ABC30 Honored Scholars

Each year, FCC partners with ABC30 to provide a special space to film high school seniors who have been selected as Honored Scholars. On May 23, the Old Administration Building was filled with over 130 Central Valley graduates, many of whom are valedictorians and salutatorians. They were dressed in their respective high school cap and gowns for the promotional filming that will air though the summer.

Ram Pantry

The Ram Pantry continues to fill a basic need for FCC students with over 66,000 visits during the 2024 Spring Semester. The average number of visits per day was 958 with a total number of 138,269 visits for the academic year. Please view the Ram Pantry Dashboard for a complete view of the impact the pantry provides. Summer hours have begun at the Ram Pantry. Through July 25, the Ram Pantry will be open Monday through Thursday from 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. It is closed on Fridays.

Leon S. Peters Scholarship Reception

On May 14, twenty-three students in the Leon S. Peters Honors Program were each awarded a $1,000 scholarship in a special ceremony held in the OAB, room 251. The FCC Honors Program was founded by the SCCCD Board of Trustees in 1987. It was named in honor of Leon S. Peters, who endowed a trust to assist in funding enrichment activities and other special features of the program.

RN Pinning Ceremony

The Registered Nursing Pinning Ceremony for 134 graduating FCC registered nursing students was held on May 18 at Fresno High School’s Royce Hall. The procession and presentation of the sashes and pins were conducted for each nursing student by the FCC nursing faculty.

Dental Hygiene Ceremony

On May 17, the Dental Hygiene Pinning Ceremony was held to celebrate 25 graduates who spent two years of study learning to provide preventive dental services. Alumna Reyna Kim (class of 2017) was the keynote speaker and shared her story of how the Dental Hygiene Program changed the lives of her family. They immigrated from El Salvador when the civil war erupted in the 1980’s when she was 8 years old.

Emergency Medical Technician Ceremony

Two Emergency Medical Technician graduation ceremonies were held on May 16 at the First Responders Campus Apparatus Bay at 11:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m. A total of 80 students participated in the ceremonies.

Fire Academy Graduation

The Fire Academy ceremony for Class 61 is slated for June 7 at 6:00 p.m. in the OAB Auditorium. Twenty-six cadets completed the 1,004 hours required by the California State Fire Marshal’s Office Accredited Fire Academy to earn their Firefighter 1 and 2 certifications and numerous other certifications. One cadet has been hired by the City of Merced. Two cadets are working for Reedley and Orange Cove Fire. Two cadets are being hired immediately after graduation with Marin County and Sanger Fire. Additionally, there are 21 cadets who have been hired as interns by North Central Fire Protection District, Kingsburg Fire Department, Selma Fire Department, Sanger Fire Department, Hanford Fire Department, and Fresno County Fire Protection District. Class 61 volunteered for many community service projects, including Beautify Fresno, the Alisa Ann Ruch Burn Foundation fundraiser, and Urban Run where they raised over $16,000 for Champ Camp.

How Not to Age Presentation

On Tuesday, June 11, a special anti-aging presentation by renowned physician, author and nutrition expert, Dr. Michael Gegor, will be held at 6:30 p.m. in the OAB Auditorium. The event is free and topics will include identifying positive diet and lifestyle interventions and learning about the five dietary factors that contribute to the annual death toll. A book signing will follow with several of his books available for purchase.

2024 Ram Huddle Club Golf Fundraiser

On Monday, June 17 the annual Ram Huddle Club Golf Classic will be held at Copper River Country Club. Proceeds from the tournament will benefit and support the 2024 FCC Football team. The $200 entry fee includes lunch, green fee, golf cart and awards for the top teams.

Sports Summer Camps

The FCC Summer Grass Volleyball series starts June 8 and includes all levels of play for adults, high school, junior high and elementary school students. All tournaments will be held at the FCC Baseball Field. Information and registration is available on their Instagram page.

The annual Brian F Coulter Memorial Girls Soccer Camp will be held from July 16-18 from 6:00 – 8:00 p.m. at the soccer field. The three-day camp is for girls ages 6-15 and includes a FCC Women’s Soccer shirt. Registration information is on Eventbrite.

Sports Update

Beach Volleyball: The Beach Volleyball team won their first ever Coast Conference Championship with a perfect 14-0 conference record. Hosting the NorCal Regionals on April 30, they beat Hartnell College 4-1 and then American River College 3-0. They headed to their first State Championships at West Valley College and eventually lost to Feather River and took second place at the tournament.

Golf: The Ram Golf Team secured second place in the Northern California Regional and took 5th place at the CCCAA Golf State Championships. Giuseppe Aliotti tied for 3rd place at the State Championship at Sandpiper Golf Club in Goleta.

Softball: The FCC Softball team won the Central Valley Conference Championship for the fourth straight year. First year coach Linda Garza was named CVC Coach of the Year with seven players receiving all-conference honors, 2 players all-state and one player all-region. They finished the season with an impressive overall record of 31-12.

Baseball: For the second year, head coach Mitch Karraker was named CVC Coach of the Year. His team also clinched the CVC Championship with a overall record of 31-12. Devon Daniel was named CVC Pitcher of the Year and short stop JP Acosta was named CVC Co-Player of the Year. In addition, Logan Sumter, Evan Wallace, Devon Daniel and JP Acosta all received CVC Gold Glove honors.

Swim & Dive: The FCC Swim and Dive team captured their first Big 8 Conference Championship. Coach Hillary Boos was named the Big 8 Coach of the year.

Track & Field: Seven track and field athletes participated in the State Championships on May 18. Their individual competitions provided additional points for the NACDA Learfield Director’s Cup.