[DEOC] Thoughts on Multicultural Graduation

Fri Mar 31 10:16:01 PDT 2023

Greetings All

Before reading my response to the questions, let me share this. I graduated from an alternative high school while homeless at 17. I didn't know anything about college at the time. Teachers and administrators told me I would be dead or in jail before 21, so I ran to the military to escape their false prophecies. I am 48, started college at 36, finished my MBA at 43, and became a Dean of Instruction at 45. I would have loved a multicultural celebration to commemorate what I achieved and what I had to mentally undo and overcome to complete. I think this is a brilliant idea!

On my way home from our commencement ceremony last year, I saw a young brother still in his cap and gound at the bus stop. My first thought was nobody showed up for this human, so he showed up for himself. That deserves the recognition that he probably never got!

Kindly & Respectfully
Marcus

  1.  What does a multicultural graduation event look like on your campus if you have one?
We do not have one at this time. I definitely want to explore implementing this in the future as I settle in. However, this may be a difficult task for my specific situation. The celebration may not yield the desired result with very few multicultural humans in our trade programs. I am willing to discuss this more in-depth outside of hard copy.
I would love to see the five trades colleges collaborate on putting one together for our multicultural students. Especially those colleges that also have a technical high school.

  1.  If you don't have one, why not?
This has never been brought up or thought of in my three years at the institution. I would have to ensure this could be a sustainable practice for the institution.

From: DEOC <deoc-bounces at lists.ctc.edu> On Behalf Of Garza, Luz via DEOC
Sent: Thursday, March 30, 2023 2:53 PM
To: Diversity and Equity Officers Commission (DEOC) <deoc at lists.ctc.edu>
Cc: Garza, Luz <lmgarza at columbiabasin.edu>
Subject: [DEOC] Thoughts on Multicultural Graduation

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Hello family,

I scheduled a conversation with various representatives across my campus on Monday regarding a multicultural event on campus. In preparation, I've been exploring what the history of the event is at our campus and elsewhere.

CBC has held this event the last few years, but people have reported to me that they were planned in haste which means we may have missed the mark on its intention.  I also heard that there was some pushback about it encouraging segregation and a step backward for equity. While the benefits of such events can be quite meaningful for participants, I know this debate is the case at other college campuses as well.

College Segregating Graduation Ceremonies by Race Sparks Anger (newsweek.com)<https://www.newsweek.com/college-segregating-graduation-ceremonies-race-sparks-anger-1789278>
https://www.factcheck.org/2021/03/posts-misrepresent-columbias-multicultural-graduation-ceremonies/
https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2022/apr/18/more-universities-holding-segregated-graduation-ev/
University-Student Union (calstatelausu.org)<http://www.calstatelausu.org/ccc-cgc>

If you could spare a couple minutes, please respond:

  1.  If you have one, what does a multicultural graduation event look like on your campus?
  2.  If you don't have one, why not?
I appreciate anything else you can share on the topic.

With care,
~Dr. Luz

[Visit the CBC Website]<https://www.columbiabasin.edu/>

Luz Garza, PhD. (ella/she/her)
Dean for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
Office phone: 509.544.2024 or ext. 2024

Cell phone: 509-713-0336

2600 N. 20th Ave. Pasco, WA 99301

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[We All Soar Together]

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