La Sierra University Promotional Film

La Sierra University Graduates Largest Class in School’s History 2017 – Highlight Film

06/20/2017 – Author: Darla Martin Tucker
RIVERSIDE, Calif. — Early on the morning of June 18, before the heat of the day set in, long lines of black-robed graduates, many adorned with colorful leis and graduation caps, stood on the upper mall of La Sierra University’s campus waiting for the organ’s resounding strains of “Pomp and Circumstance” to begin at 8 a.m.

“It doesn’t seem real,” said Kaitlyn Witherby, a management and marketing double major as she stood in line with her classmates. “I’m excited, nervous, but mostly excited,” said chemistry and Spanish major Caleb Flores of Fresno.

A short time later, Kristen Soares, president of the Association of Independent California Colleges and Universities stood before La Sierra’s 2017 graduating class seated on Founders’ Green and advised them to create memory imprints of the day and of other special moments in their lives. She also told the graduates to value setbacks and mistakes as resilience-building moments along the path toward their goals.

Soares gave an address titled “Be Present” for La Sierra’s commencement which saw 475 students, the university’s largest graduating class to date, receive 494 degrees.

The AICCU represents the chief executives of California’s 79 private, nonprofit colleges and universities and those institutions’ 330,000 students on issues of public policy. Soares’ efforts include advocating for the Cal Grant, a state financial aid program for higher education. Before joining the AICCU, Soares served as a senior associate vice president for government relations and civic engagement at the University of Southern California for 23 years.

La Sierra University is a Seventh-day Adventist non-profit co-educational university located in Riverside, California, United States. La Sierra offers undergraduate, graduate and doctoral level degrees and is accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges and the Adventist Accrediting Association.

To view photo albums of La Sierra University’s 2017 commencement weekend, visit https://www.facebook.com/LaSierraU

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