Can't make it to commencement? Enjoy the events on Livestream:
9:00 a.m. youtu.be/5vLAOAkoLkY
2:00 p.m. youtu.be/UWx12mZ5TGw
Fresno Pacific University will host a reunion of sorts at its fall commencement.
The university celebrates its return to in-person ceremonies by not only honoring the Fall 2021 class, but by inviting the Spring 2021, Fall 2020 and Spring 2020 classes—all of whom had virtual graduations—to walk across the stage as well. Ceremonies will begin at 9:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m. Saturday, December 11, at the Paul Paul Theatre on the Fresno Fairgrounds, 1121 S. Chance Ave., Fresno.
Graduates from the School of Business; School of Humanities, Religion & Social Sciences; and Fresno Pacific Biblical Seminary will be recognized in the morning. Graduates from the School of Education and the School of Natural Sciences will be celebrated in the afternoon. Signed up to participate are 491 Fall 2021 graduates and 285 graduates from the previous classes. Members of the earlier classes have received their degrees, but many expressed interest in attending a live ceremony.
FPU offers traditional undergraduate programs at its main campus in Southeast Fresno, also the site of Fresno Pacific Biblical Seminary. The university also provides bachelor’s degree completion and master’s degree programs at regional campuses in North Fresno, Visalia, Bakersfield and Merced, as well as a variety of online options.
All graduates, staff and faculty will be required to wear a mask, and audience members will be encouraged to do so. Graduates will be able to remove their mask just prior to walking across the stage. Free parking will be provided across Chance Avenue from the fairgrounds.
Featured speaker for both ceremonies will be Rebecca Hernandez, Ph.D., associate provost and chief diversity officer at George Fox University. She oversees diversity planning and implementation, faculty and campus leadership development and the Office for Local and Global Engagement, Center for Peace and Justice and Office of Learning Support Services.
Hernandez spent over 15 years as a community leader serving Latinos and other diverse communities in Oregon. She taught at Oregon State University, earning a Ph.D. in Human Development & Family Studies, and at Oregon Health & Science University School of Nursing. She directed the Goshen (IN) College Center for Intercultural Teaching and Learning, becoming associate dean and program director for the M.A. in Intercultural Leadership.
At the Council for Christian Colleges and Universities (CCCU), Hernandez helped launch the Multi-Ethnic Leadership Development Institute, and was founding chair of the CCCU Commission on Diversity and Inclusion. The National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference gave her the Hispanic Education Impact Award.
Other speakers will include President Joseph Jones, Ph.D.; Joshua Wilson, J.D., chair of the FPU Board of Trustees; and Gayle Copeland, Ph.D., provost/senior vice president for academic affairs and chief academic officer. University faculty and ensembles will provide music.