Pima Community College has chosen three students from varied backgrounds to speak during its annual diversity celebration for graduates – Multicultural Convocation – on Thursday, May 9, 2013.
The speakers were chosen from more than one dozen applicants. A subcommittee of the Graduation Committee chooses speakers based on applications, interviews and recitations of their draft speeches, submitted with their applications.
Multicultural Convocation is open to all PCC graduates in an academic year, and is designed to celebrate individual academic achievement and the class’s cultural diversity.
The celebration includes international- and multicultural-themed entertainment, food and beverages, as well as a program that includes presenting a Diversity Sash to each attending graduate. The graduates are encouraged to wear their sashes during Graduation on Thursday, May 16, 2013.
The three students, their degrees and some of their activities are:
• Sarha H. Beltran: Liberal Arts-Associate of Arts and Liberal Arts- Arizona General Education Curriculum-A Certification (AGEC-A); volunteer writing tutor at Desert Vista Campus and volunteer student aide at the West Campus Academic Computer Commons; born in Agua Prieta, Son., Mexico
• Patricia E. Mares: Health Information Technology-Associate of Applied Science; volunteer for Tucson Medical Center pediatrics, Grace Community Church GO outreach center for refugees, Safe Kids USA and Girls on the Run; her family is Yaqui and from Hermosillo, Son., Mexico, and she is applying for membership in the Pascua Yaqui Tribe here.
• Lauren M. Dautrich: Liberal Arts-Associate of Arts and Liberal Arts-AGEC-A Certification (AGEC-A); Disney College Program intern; regular participant in the Pima Community College Writer’s Workshop