By Dr. Lisa McGoldrick
NVC Director of Community Collaborations
It is an honor for me to lead the 2022 NVC Commencement… You will Remember Us! I have had the privilege to lead the NVC Commencement event at NVC since May 2017. This year’s 2022 Commencement Squad includes the following amazing NVC faculty and staff:
- Dr. Lisa McGoldrick, Chair- Director of Community Collaborations
- Dr. Randall Garza, Associate Director of Student Success
- Rey Cardenas, College Events Coordinator
- Sharon Dresser, Disability Services Coordinator
- Steven Gonzales, Math Faculty
- Nancy Guevara, Administrative Assistant to the VPCS
- Alice Martinez, Administrate Assistant to the Director of Community Collaborations
- Jonathon Gonzales, Records- Student Success
- Tyrell Schwab, Coordinator, College Services
- Laura Quintanilla, Staff Senate President
- Garvin Dansby, Risk Management Coordinator
- Paul Vallejo, MARCOMM
As planning is underway to celebrate our NVC WildC.A.T.S (Celebrating All The Students) graduates, we are excited to be back in person at the Freeman Coliseum on May 15 at 4 pm. Please view the NVC Commencement website for all the latest updates. https://www.alamo.edu/nvc/experience-nvc/current-students/graduation/commencement/
The past two years for these graduates of 2022 have been some of the most tumultuous in the modern history of higher education in the United States. In the spring of 2020, NVC was forced to pivot our operations entirely online due to a deadly pandemic. Practically overnight, many college students were displaced from NVC, losing their on-campus engagement and learning, along with their jobs and livelihoods. Some students took jobs, risking their health, to help support their families, while some took care of children helping them with remote schools, siblings, and elderly family members at home. Some of our students lost loved ones, were faced with loss and grief that could easily have derailed their educational journey.
The stress and strain of these past two years fell disproportionately on Black and Latinx students, whose communities were hard hit both by COVID-19 and the ensuing economic crisis. Nationwide, enrollment declined about 4 percent at colleges and universities. Concernedly, that decline stood at 10 percent at community colleges—the open access institutions that serve a plurality of undergraduates in America (Third Way/New America Higher Ed Tracking Survey May 2021). As vaccines for COVID-19 became more widely available, NVC tried multiple times to come back to campus to no avail because the pandemic had other plans.
NVC just finally returned back to campus late Spring 2022. Therefore, these graduates have had little time to get to know their fellow colleagues, immerse in the NVC culture, explore the beautiful campus, or have in-person club/organization events. However, NVC was here to support students with emergency aid dollars through grants procured by numerous NVC faculty and staff, resource development, financial aid, and scholarships. Most importantly, these obstacles from the past two years did not hold back the graduating class of 2022, it propelled them to reach this important milestone, and walk across the stage in just 5 more weeks!
GradFest will be on Thursday, April 28, 2022 from 9:00 am -6:00 pm in Huisache Hall (HH) gymnasium basketball court.
Exciting Additions this Year:
- Faculty/Staff Celebration tunnel with pom-poms
- NVC Cheerleaders with Cheers and Signs!
- NISD Mariachi Band
- Jumbotron @ the Freeman
- Dr. Julien Mahler- Alumni Speaker
- Robert Simmons, Dell Technologies- Keynote
- Faculty/staff Confetti cannons
- Foam glow sticks for graduates
- NVC Swag for families handed out by Wildcat Willie!
- Purple stage up lighting
The five-week countdown advertisement begins soon! Check your email starting Monday, April 11 for important information about Commencement, volunteering, and important updates.
These graduating students have been through so much, let’s give them the best Commencement send-off EVER! Go Wildcats!