Instead of walking across a massive stage at Santa Barbara City College’s La Playa Stadium dressed in their graduation regalia, graduates celebrated their commencement ceremony online on Friday evening.
Restrictions in response to the coronavirus pandemic abruptly canceled SBCC’s traditional in-person commencement on campus.
The newest batch of SBCC graduates were conferred degrees virtually, and pride and a sense of accomplishment were evident as speakers recognized the students’ hard-earned achievements amid uncertain times.
About 1,800 students in the 2019-20 academic year graduated with more than 4,000 degrees or certificates among them (many students pursue multiple degrees), according to SBCC spokeswoman Luz Reyes-Martin. About 300 students were expected to participate in SBCC’s 71st annual commencement.
Hundreds of viewers watched the online graduation ceremony, and many people offered encouraging words through a live chat on SBCC’s YouTube watch page.
“You can still blaze a trail amid uncertainty,” someone wrote in the comment sidebar. Another wrote, “Congratulations graduates. I hope this medium can bring some joy.”
Flush with excitement, a graduate wrote: “Congratulations you guys! We did it!!!! Class of 2020!!”
A countdown clock on the YouTube watch page ticked away the time left before the festivities kicked off. A moment after the countdown reached zero, “Pomp and Circumstance” played.
Photos of SBCC student-athletes were displayed on the screen, along with smiling students studying with their peers. An image showed a classroom filled with engaged students on computers as well as a wide variety of other on-campus activities in ordinary times.
The Class of 2020 is the first graduating class of new SBCC Superintendent/President Utpal Goswami. He took the helm in January after Helen Benjamin served as interim superintendent/president.
He said Friday’s online gathering was the first of its kind in school history. SBCC was established in 1909.
Goswami provided the opening remarks, noting the unusual method and thanking the graduates for “putting up with all the difficulties you had to put up with this semester.”
The coronavirus has upended almost everything, including education and plans for SBCC students.
“You did not sign up for a semester where you thought you were going to take all your classes online, but that’s what you had to do,” Goswami said. “Faculty and staff did not sign up to do their work remotely, but that’s what they had to do, and what we have done is shown resilience in making things happen under these extremely trying circumstances.”
The graduates are bracing for even more uncertainty.
For students pursuing a new institution of higher education, they are unsure whether classes will be offered in traditional face-to-face or online formats.
“It was expected for me to say, ‘Go forth and blaze a trail,’” Goswami said. “But, I have to temper what I say about blazing a trail because the next six months to a year is going to be filled with uncertainty.”
The students looked forward to building a community at their new school, but “that may be on hold,” he said. “Friends are important, so I will tell you and ask you to keep in touch with the friends you have loved at SBCC.”
The Class of 2020 is entering the work force at a time when jobs are sparse and the coronavirus has disrupted what they expected.
“Right now, it’s about the worst time to enter the work force given the employment numbers that you see in the news,” Goswami said. “But, if you look at history, these kinds of episodes are transient.”
Goswami encouraged the graduates to “focus on your long-term goals,” and the months-long public health emergency “should not detract from what you want to be and where you want to go.”
He also told them that “despite where we are today, your future is going to be bright, and you can accomplish what you set out to accomplish.”
While the ceremony was delivered remotely, this year’s graduation routine included the long-established student speech.
Isabel Espinosa Agundis, an SBCC mechanical engineering graduate, served as this year’s student commencement speaker. She received numerous accolades from national organizations such as Great Minds in STEM and the National Society of Professional Engineers.
She said a high point was when she received a full-time internship at NASA’s Johnson Space Center, where she worked hand-in-hand with the world-leading program directors, engineers, scientists, commanders and astronauts, and conducted research for the Orion Spacecraft mission.
Agundis said she wants to be a role model for “all underrepresented minority communities” and strives to “inspire younger generations to pursue their passions regardless of their background.”
SBCC has been an “incubator for these dreams,” Agundis said.
She spoke of boarding a one-way flight from central Mexico to Northern California in January 2015. The then-18-year-old had a small backpack filled only with clothes and $40, but she was “optimistic about my future.” It was her first time in California, and she felt uncertain and excited.
“I had a dream,” Agundis said, “a dream I still think about today. My dream is to obtain a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from a premier university, and eventually, attend graduate school.
“Since stepping on American soil, I have learned how to work extremely hard to overcome cultural and linguistic barriers while staying committed to my goals. It was here where I graduated high school in the top 10 percent of my class, enrolled at the best community college and where I got my first job.”
Agundis later added, “A college education can open up windows of opportunities and can teach me how to lead my life.”
SBCC Academic Senate President Patricia Stark offered remarks before the graduates began the iconic rite of passage.
“If we faculty have done our jobs right, then we have helped you develop the tools you will need to survive this pandemic,” Stark said. “We believe that your education is the most important resource to prepare you for your unfuture uncertain that lies ahead.”
One by one, each name was read out loud. Each degree recipient who wished to take part in the online commencement appeared in alphabetical order. Some graduates included a brief written statement to thank their parents, friends and professors.
“I’m grateful for everything I’ve learned at SBCC and will always cherish my memories here,” associate in arts graduate Marli Alejandra Anglim wrote. “I’m excited to be attending UCLA (University of California, Los Angeles) in the fall.”
Shortly before 9 p.m., it was time to move the cap’s tassel to the other side.
Goswami presented the graduating class.
“This is the moment we have all been waiting for,” he said. “Graduates, will you please rise?”
Click here to view the names of SBCC’s Class of 2020.
— Noozhawk staff writer Brooke Holland can be reached at bholland@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.
