CSUSB Reaches 100k Graduates for 2018 Spring Commencement

Cal State San Bernardino has reached a major milestone in its 50-plus years of service to the inland region.

The university will surpass 100,000 graduates during its five commencement ceremonies on Thursday and Saturday, June 14 and 16, when more than 3,500 students are expected to participate.

“This is truly an amazing achievement for our university. This is an accomplishment that our students, faculty and staff as well as the communities that we serve should take great pride in,” said Cal State San Bernardino President Tomás D. Morales. “What makes this profoundly memorable and a credit to our region is that more than 80 percent of our students are the first in their families to attend college or receive a college degree.”

As part of the commencement ceremonies, the university will bestow an honorary doctorate of humane letters to Julia I. Lopez, one of California’s most impactful philanthropists and foundation leaders, who has made a profound difference in the lives of countless students through her work with College Futures Foundation.

Lopez will be honored during the graduation ceremony for the university’s Palm Desert Campuson June 14, at 6 p.m. at The Show at Agua Caliente Spa and Resort, 32-250 Bob Hope Drive in Rancho Mirage.

About 273 students are expected to participate in the Palm Desert Campus graduation ceremony. The PDC will recognize Kaela A. Bonafede as the Outstanding Undergraduate Student and Timothy Castro as the Outstanding Graduate Student. Bonafede will receive a bachelor’s degree in psychology. Castro will receive a master’s degree in business administration, with a management concentration.

Commencement ceremonies will then move to Saturday, June 16, when CSUSB’s five colleges will honor their graduating students at Citizens Business Bank Arena, 4000 E. Ontario Center Parkway, in Ontario. Parking at Citizens Business Bank Arena will be $5 in lots A, B, C and D. Patrons are encouraged to bring exact change.

All of the ceremonies at Citizens Business Bank Arena will be livestreamedon the Creative Media Services webcast pageat http://acm.csusb.edu/services/videoproduction/livewebcast.html.

Now in its fourth year at Citizens Business Bank Arena, the university moved its commencement ceremony to the Ontario location from the university’s Coussoulis Arena due to the increasing number of graduates and their guests.

The first ceremony will be at 8 a.m. for the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences, which this year is the largest commencement ceremony with more than 1,172 students expected to participate.

The college will also honor Nathaly Beltran as the Outstanding Undergraduate and Sam Worrall as the Outstanding Graduate Student. Beltran is graduating with a bachelor’s degree in social work and Worrall with a master’s degree clinical psychology.

At noon, the College of Natural Scienceswill hold its graduation ceremony, where nearly 700 students are expected to participate. The college will honor Rafael Alamilla as the Outstanding Undergraduate Student, Maylen Jackson as the Outstanding Graduate Student and Robert Tanguay as the Outstanding Alumni.

Alamilla is graduating with a degree in kinesiology and Jackson with a master’s degree in health science and human ecology. Tanguay, who graduated 1988 with a bachelor’s degree in biology, is the Distinguished Professor of Molecular Toxicology at Oregon State University, Corvallis.

TheCollege of Arts and Lettersand the College of Educationwill hold a joint commencement ceremony at 4 p.m. More than 516 students are expected to participate in the College of Arts and Letters ceremony, where Graciela Troche will be honored as the Outstanding Undergraduate and Erika Quiñonez as the Outstanding Graduate Student.

Troche will graduate with a bachelor’s degree in communication studies and Quiñonez with a master’s degree in English.

About 122 students are expected to participate in the College of Education commencement, which will honor Olivia Bushem as its Outstanding Graduate Student and Cherina Betters as its Outstanding Doctoral Student. Bushem will graduate with a master’s degree in counseling and guidance and Betters will graduate with an educational doctorate in educational leadership.

Closing out the day of festivities will be the 8 p.m. commencement ceremony for the Jack H. Brown College of Business and Public Administration. The college, which is expected to have 732 students participating, will honor Marlene Baumann as its Outstanding Undergraduate and Rudy Morales as its Outstanding Graduate Student.

Baumann will graduate with a degree in accounting and Morales with a master’s degree in public administration.

For more information about the June 2018 graduations, visit the CSUSB Commencement website athttp://commencement.csusb.edu/index.htmlor contact the Office of Special Events and Guest Services at (909) 537-7360.

About Cal State San Bernardino

California State University, San Bernardinois a preeminent center of intellectual and cultural activity in Inland Southern California. Opened in 1965 and set at the foothills of the beautiful San Bernardino Mountains, the university serves more than 20,000 students each year and graduates about 4,000 students annually. The university offers more than 70 traditional baccalaureate and master’s degree programs, education credential and certificate programs, and a doctorate program in educational leadership. Every one of its academic programs that is eligible has earned national accreditation. CSUSB reflects the dynamic diversity of the region and has the most diverse student population of any university in the Inland Empire. More than 80 percent of those who graduate are the first in their families to do so.

For more information on Cal State San Bernardino, contact the university’s Office of Strategic Communicationat (909) 537-5007 and visit inside.csusb.edu.