Courtesy of Gavilan College President Kathleen Rose:
Hello all and welcome to May, the beauty of spring on the campus, the countdown to finals and to graduation. Each week there are multiple events as student groups and programs come together to celebrate our students, the accomplishments of the year, and look to the future with excitement and anticipation.
For me, the closing of the academic year celebrations begin with the annual Puente dinner, where students celebrate their participation in our treasured program (now 31 years strong), receive certificates and declare their transfer institutions. This event occurs in the same week as Signing Day on campus, when students share with joy where they will be transferring to in the fall to continue their studies and what major will be their focus. In addition this past month was the kick off of our Centennial year with the fantastic event in the Library with Leah Halper and members of our community launching our “Community Matters Archive Party ”. Be sure to check out the link on the library website that tells you more about our rich, 100-year-old history as we prepare to celebrate for the next year.
Also in May is the award of the Karl S. Pister scholarship to a fortunate student, which is $10,000 a year award for two years to UCSC. This year Elizabeth Williams is the recipient and we are thrilled to support Liz on her journey to become a Clinical Psychologist. You can read more about Liz, as well as Nolan Golden , another stellar student leader on campus in our news this month. There are so many current and emerging student leaders on campus, and we are proud to celebrate all of your accomplishments while at Gavilan.
Across campus this year we have been talking a great deal about student success … how to define it, how to measure it, how it is achieved, and so forth. There are so many examples as we conclude this year, too many for just one First Friday column, of how our students at Gavilan show up here and succeed each day. Here are just a few more quick examples:
- GECA: Ranked #3 in the state and #42 in the Nation by US News and World Report.
- High School Forums, Super Saturday, and the Welcome Center: Thank you Student Services Team, and especially Stacey Porteur and Ryan Shook for generating such excitement and passion!
- Gavilan Rams Athletics: For all of our team sports, whether it is championships won or competitions pursued with team spirit and strength…you have represented us well this year.
- ASGC Leadership Symposium: Congratulations on a purposeful event for area high schools.
- We will have the largest graduating class ever in the history of Gavilan College this year. Fantastic!
