Long Beach City College will host five cultural graduation celebrations for upcoming graduates. These events are free, open to anyone and will take place on May 9, 16, 17 and 31 at the LAC campus, all at various times.
These events are offered by LBCC’s Office of Student Equity as well as individual clubs and faculty that are providing each event with its own unique celebration.
It is important to note that the cultural graduation celebrations are separate from the college’s commencement ceremony, which will be held on June 5 at 9:30 a.m. in Veterans Stadium.
Students will receive their degrees at the commencement ceremony, not at the cultural grad celebrations.
“Each event is very different, it’s based on the committee, they get to decide how they want to run their cultural grad celebration,” Itzel Marin, an employee at the Social Justice Intercultural Center, who has attended events in the past, said.
The first event, Lavender Grad, is in celebration of students who are part of the LGBTQ+ community and will take place on Friday from 5–7 p.m. in room W201 on the LAC campus.
Hosting events like the Lavender Grad celebration gives the queer community a chance to come together and celebrate each other’s achievements in a loving and supportive environment.
The Lavender Grad celebration is being organized by Jerome Hunt, a professor at Long Beach City College that specializes in History, Political Science, and African American LGBTQIA+ Politics.
“One beautiful thing about the Lavender Graduation is that it is not as formalized as the other celebrations. We really encourage our students to come as they are to really feel comfortable in this space, we know that they may not be out, on campus or at home, so this allows for them to participate in the celebration as they are, as their true authentic selves,” Hunt said.
Previous Lavender Grad celebrations gave students the chance to decorate graduation caps, make friendship bracelets and write letters to incarcerated LGBTQ+ individuals.
On May 16 from 5 – 7 p.m., the Native Cultural Grad Celebration will be held in room W201 on the LAC campus.
This event will include performances from Native dancers, drummers, and singers.
Graduates will receive feathered tassels that they can wear to the official commencement ceremony that will take place on June 5.
The Asian Pacific Islander Desi (APID) Grad Celebration will take place on May 17, from 9:30 – 11 a.m. in room T1200 on the LAC campus.
Graduates in attendance will receive pins representing their culture that can be worn at the commencement ceremony.
The Black Grad Celebration will also be offered to celebrate Black and African American students later that day from 12:30-2 p.m. at the LAC L Quad located outside of the Black Student Success Center.
Both the APID and Black Grad Celebrations are hosted as a ceremony, and students have the opportunity to have their name called out to recognize their academic achievement.
The RAICES Grad Celebration for Latino students will be a bilingual event held on May 31, from 9-11:30 a.m. at the LAC Hall of Champions (R Gym).
“I would like to bring my family to this, so I can celebrate my achievements with my friends and family,” Mia Corral, an upcoming LBCC graduate, said about attending the RAICES Grad Celebration.
The RAICES and Black Grad Celebrations have the highest number of attendees with a more traditional format.
The Grad Celebrations focus on heritage and culture and offer a chance for students to celebrate their academic success with their families.