3,500 Mounties expected to Graduate in 2020

June 10, 2020 - 10:55 AM

Mt. SAC will hold one of the biggest drive-thru graduation ceremonies in the region on June 18 at 2:30 p.m.

“While we were planning on having the Class of 2020 be the first to graduate in the new stadium, they’ll still make history as the first class to have a drive-thru commencement,” said Mt. SAC President Bill Scroggins. “These resilient students will go down in history for their perseverance and grit. It is important to celebrate their achievements in light of the challenges they have faced.”

A Mt. SAC student may be conferred their degree at the end of any of the four educational periods throughout the year. Thus, the June 18 ceremony is for students who completed their studies in Fall 2019, Winter 2020 or Spring 2020, or will complete their requirements to graduate this Summer. Student registration for the event is available through the Mt. SAC Commencement webpage.

In consultation with the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health, the college has designed a ceremony to comply with the County Health Officer order and Governor Gavin Newsom’s statewide orders, with COVID-19 restrictions strictly observed.

On Thursday, June 18 at 2:30 p.m., the event will launch with a pre-recorded Virtual Commencement Ceremony featuring campus leaders and students. At 3:00 p.m., Mt. SAC will begin its very first Drive-Thru Celebration. Graduates will ride in their own vehicles. 

“Each graduate will receive a graduation package filled with a stole, 2020 tassel, diploma cover, beautifully designed program, and other Mountie swag,” said Dean of Student Services Koji Uesugi. “There will be faculty and staff cheering on the graduates along the route until they reach the recognition area, where their names will be announced in front of a live streaming camera.” Students will stay within their car, per county guidance, and staff will put their graduation package in their vehicle. 

Students from 17 years of age to 70 will be graduating according to the college’s Vice President of Student Services, Audrey Yamagata-Noji, who dubs the Class of 2020 the “Resilient Class”.

“While nothing can replace a live, in-person Mt. SAC commencement ceremony in front of 10,000 cheering family and friends,” stated Yamagata-Noji, “our goal is to celebrate our students the best way we can during an unprecedented time where we are wrestling with a worldwide pandemic and confronting centuries of racial injustice in our country.”

Mt. SAC is well-known for its Associate Transfer degrees; and this year, almost half of all petitions for degrees were from one of the 22 programs that the college has designed a transfer degree for. Mt. SAC received a Champion of Higher Education award last year for having developed the programs where students can get an AA-T or AS_T degree. An Associate Transfer degree guarantees admission to Cal State Universities and allows students to earn a Bachelor’s degree twice as fast as the conventional method. Mt. SAC received more than 1,800 Associate Transfer degree petitions for Commencement 2020.