Each year graduating Sonoma State University students with Latino, Hispanic, or Chicano heritage gather for a Latino graduation celebration.
This year's 25th La Raza annual ceremony is Friday, May 24 at 5:30 p.m. in Evert B. Person Theatre. Danza Azteca will provide Aztec dancing from 5-5:30 p.m.
Many of the 25 graduates attending are first generation college graduates and this special celebration allows them to personally thank their advisors, professors, family and friends, says one of the organizers, Juana Reynoza.
The ceremony includes a keynote and student speakers. Graduating students will have the opportunity to address the audience and thank those who have helped them through college.
The ceremony traditionally draws a few hundred people and is open to the general public.
La Raza Graduation is meant to be a more personal event unlike the traditional commencement, says Reynoza, and it is targeted at the Spanish-speaking community. "We are all here because someone early on in our life told us we need to study and go to college to get a good job and be successful," she says.
"There are graduates such as myself that are first generation college students and at this celebration we are allowed to thank all and any (in English or Spanish) that helped us throughout our education," she says. "I am one of those graduates that could not have done this alone. I was given this opportunity by my parents who came to this country for a better chance at life."
The organizing committee include Reynoza, Karla Marroquin and Blanca Flores and with the assistance of Aida Diaz. "Advisor Richard Rodriquez (Director of Psychological and Counseling Services at Sonoma State University) has been a great help to us and a strong supporter, " Reynoza adds.
