LBCC’s Grad Fest recently celebrated graduating students and offered them final support and resource opportunities at the Dream Big Bash at the Liberal Arts Campus.
The event lasted from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. and included music by DJ Mr. Quick, lawn games like volleyball and cornhole, and booths.
Booths hosted by university partners, such as UCLA, Arizona State University, CSULA, CSU Dominguez Hills, and CSU Fullerton, made up one half of the resource fair.
The resources fair booths offered graduating students opportunities beyond LBCC, such as programs to join on new campuses.
Campus partners that ran booths include the UMOJA program, the EOPS program, the Male Success Initiative hosted by James Ceja, and ASB hosted by ASB President Priince Bass.
ASB also had Olle Tauanuu in a Viking costume, representing the school mascot for the event. Tauanuu posed for pictures as well.
At noon, Superintendent-President Mike Munoz attended the event and hosted the “Paletas with the President” booth, where he and other faculty members handed out paletas (popsicles) to attendees.
Students also had the chance to meet with Munoz and take a photo.
“[Paletas with the President] is an event I try to do multiple times a year to connect with students and our campus community. So we’re leveraging the power of all of these opportunities to celebrate the graduating class this semester. Really just creating synergy in celebrating our students,” said Munoz.
LBCC President Mike Munoz talks and hands out paletas to students during the Dream Big Bash, for the “Paletas with the President” booth May 8. (Kay Pham-Nguyen)
The campus bookstore also hosted multiple booths, with one booth for merchandise and regalia, and another booth for graduation photos.
The event provided breakfast and lunch for attendees, with boxed breakfast sandwiches, coffee, and orange juice for breakfast and hot dogs, veggie burgers, chips, and pink lemonade for lunch.
The event was organized by director of Student Health Services, Sergio Grimaldi, who revealed that the event was moved out from the A-building quad, where the event had been previously held years prior, to the LAC main lawn.
“The resource fair is a new component. It would’ve been too big for the quad over at A-building, so we moved it right outside so it’d still be close,” Grimaldi said.
Soon after “Paletas with the President,” infrequent gusts of wind started interfering with the event and paperwork in the booths were getting blown over.
However, this did very little to affect the festivities, as attendees continued dancing to the DJ’s music along the main aisle of booths.
“It’s a good turnout, and a good energy. I’d say it’s like a family barbecue, because we’re all family here,” Bass said.