Nearly 5,500 Cal Poly students to earn degrees across 2 days of graduation ceremonies
Cal Poly’s stadium was a sea of green Saturday as thousands of graduating students earned their degrees from the San Luis Obispo university.
“It’s four years of hard work finally paying off, that’s for sure,” crop science graduate Brent Hill said after his ceremony.
Nearly 5,500 graduates will walk across the stage over the weekend, including about 4,700 undergraduates and 773 graduate students, according to the university.
On Saturday, the celebrations at Cal Poly’s Alex G. Spanos stadium began at 8:30 a.m. with the College of Agriculture, Food and Environmental Sciences (CAFES) graduation. Then, at 12:30 p.m., the College of Agriculture and Environmental Design held its commencement, followed by the College of Engineering at 4:30 p.m.
Sunday was expected to begin with the Orfalea College of Business’s commencement at 8:30 a.m. followed by the College of Science and Mathematics at 12:30 p.m. and the College of Liberal Arts at 4:30 p.m.
The CAFES ceremony Saturday morning saw speeches from President Jeffrey Armstrong, Academic Senate Chair and physics professor Thomas Gutierrez and more.
“Succeeding in higher education and earning a degree is a mammoth achievement even under the best of circumstances — to say nothing of navigating the obstacles presented by the COVID-19 pandemic,” Armstrong said. “But Cal Poly students are up to the challenge.”
“The skills and knowledge they leave Cal Poly with will help them reach the summit of their career goals and foster their transformation into industry standouts and future leaders,” he continued. “Our faculty pushed them to be the best students, and we feel it will help them find success in whatever they choose to do.”
U.S. Senator Alex Padilla also spoke to graduating students in a recorded video, congratulating them for their degrees, the lifelong friendships they’ve made and how they’ve learned to “speak up for what’s right.”
“This degree is a testament to the many challenges that you’ve overcome,” Padilla said in the video.
Padilla shared advice from newly appointed Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, who told him one important thing the grads should know: to persevere.
Associated Students, Inc. (ASI) president Tess Loarie was also on stage to share her message with her peers.
Loarie’s speech focused on the false idea of success, citing a quote from author David Orr.
“The plain fact is that the planet does not need more successful people,” she quoted. “But it does desperately need more peacemakers, healers, restorers, storytellers and lovers of every kind. It needs people who live well in their places. It needs people of moral courage willing to join the fight to make the world habitable and humane. And these qualities have little to do with success as we have defined it.”
“My hope for us, Class of 2022, is that we do better than obsess about constantly being successful in our futures,” Loarie said. “I hope that we focus on checking in on the people around us constantly, I hope we normalize offering resources, extensions, time and space to process when people need it. I hope we offer others love and grace even when it seems like they haven’t earned it. I really hope we stand up for what’s right and work to change what’s unjust. My hope for our class is that if we can center ourselves around these values, we’ll know what it means to be truly successful.”
Cal Poly Provost Cynthia Jackson-Elmoore echoed this sentiment when she said the students will be successful on their own terms “with care and compassion.”
Vice President of Student Affairs Keith Humphrey told students “this campus is yours forever,” urging them to be as involved as alumni as they were as students. Humphrey also recognized alumni in the audience, including family members of current graduating students.
“You are always a part of the Cal Poly community,” Humphrey said. Students were gifted a Cal Poly keychain to prove it.
Animal science graduate Karinne House said she hopes to be a vet one day. Soon after graduating, she will be working as a vet tech as a launching pad into vet school.
“I know other people who are interested in the same thing I am — I’ve had experiences that they have not had and won’t have until they go into grad school,” she said. “So I really appreciate what I’ve been able to do here.”
“If you’re on the fence about going to Cal Poly, go for it,” House added. “I really loved it here. I found my community here, and I enjoyed every second I was here.”
Cal Poly also honored three university alumni with honorary degrees: John Salmonson, an agricultural businessman and ag industry leader; Southern California newscaster Laura Diaz, a 14-time Emmy Award winning anchor, reporter and producer; and the late Jim Copeland, a longtime San Luis Obispo County business leader who was instrumental in revitalizing downtown San Luis Obispo.
Each of the spring commencement ceremonies was broadcast via livestream video on the university’s website at www.commencement.calpoly.edu/spring.
This story was originally published June 11, 2022 at 12:00 AM.
