Report to Board: June 2025
2025 Commencement
It was another historic year as FCC held its 2025 Commencement Ceremony on May 23 at the Save Mart Center. This year, over 2,900 students were eligible to participate in the ceremony. Those students earned a total of 3,285 degrees. Over 1,200 graduates participated in the ceremony with over 14,000 friends and family attending the ceremony. The Honorable Adam Schiff, U.S. Senator for California, was the keynote speaker and Poverello CEO Zachary Darrah was named the 2025 Distinguished Alumnus.
2025 Dean's Medallion Recipients
Fresno City College is pleased to announce the 2025 Dean’s Medallion of Excellence Award recipients. The eight recipients received their medallions in a special ceremony on May 15. Each recipient received a $500 scholarship. Angel Felix Gomez from the Counseling and Guidance Division was also awarded the Tony Cantú President’s Medallion given in honor of former President Tony Cantú, who passed away in April 2015.
Ms. Janessa Guzman Allied Health, Physical Education and Athletics Division
Medical Assisting (AS)
Ms. Angelina Brown Applied Technology Division
Electrical Systems Technology (AS)
Mr. Vincent Nobles Business Education Division
Business Administration for Transfer (AA-T)
Mr. Angel Felix Gomez Tony Cantú's President's Medallion
Counseling & Guidance Division
Music (AA)
Mr. Israel Cardona Hernandez Fine, Performing and Communication Arts Division
Journalism for Transfer (AA-T)
Ms. Olivia Rose Peterson Humanities Division
English for Transfer (AA-T)
Ms. Hee Won (Ann) Jang Math, Science and Engineering Division
Human Biology (AS)
Ms. Srishti Saini Social Sciences Division
Psychology (AA-T)
Radiologic Technology
The Radiologic Technology Pinning Ceremony will be held on June 28 for 42 graduating students as they complete the Associate of Science degree in Radiologic Technology. Each student will be recognized with a program completion certificate and a Radiologic Technology pin, presented by FCC faculty. The event will be held at 10:00 a.m. in the Old Administration Building Auditorium.
Dual Enrollment Records
This year marks a significant achievement for local high school students: 11 students from Central High School are earning an AA in Liberal Arts with a Social Science Emphasis, all with Highest Honors. Additionally, 12 students from Washington Union High School are graduating with an AS in Medical Assisting, a Certificate in Medical Assisting, and a Certificate in IGETC, with 8 achieving Highest Honors. From the Career Technical Education Charter High School, 41 students are receiving an Associates in Science construction or manufacturing, including 3 with High Honors and 12 with Highest Honors.
Design Science Middle College High School
The 2025 Design Science graduating class was awarded 46 associate degrees on May 27. This included 6 Associate in Arts for Transfer (AD-T) in Mathematics, 1 Associate in Arts in Liberal Arts with a Foreign Language emphasis, and 41 Associate in Arts in Liberal Arts with a Social Sciences emphasis.
Emergency Medical Technician Ceremony
The Emergency Medical Technician graduation ceremony was held on May 30 in the OAB Auditorium at 4:30 p.m. The ceremony combines all four sections of EMT students. A total of 86 students participated in the ceremonies.
Associate Student Government Elections
The FCC student body cast their votes for next year’s slate of Associated Student Government officers. The swearing-in of the new officers will take place in July. Congratulations to the newly elected student leaders.
Pride Flag Raising Event
The 5th Annual Pride Flag Raising Ceremony was held on June 2nd at the flagpole in front of Building A. Dr.
Lisa Gaetje, Vice President of Instruction and Dr. Ghada Al-Masri, Vice President of Educational Services and
Institutional Effectiveness provided the welcome and opening remarks. The Pride Flag was raised by two
FCC counselors representing the LGBTQ+ community on campus, Dr. Smoky Rith and Eric Ebert.
Pride Parade and Festival
The FCC Outreach team and Rainbow Alliance Staff & Faculty Association have organized this year’s parade entry at the Fresno Rainbow Pride Parade. The parade will be held on June 7 in the Tower District. For the fifth year, FCC will be the venue for the Pride Festival that is held on the same day. A portion of the proceeds from the festival benefit the Rainbow Alliance Staff and Faculty Association.
New Wrinkles
The popular senior revue has started a new season with the theme “That’s Entertainment!” A kick off reception was held on May 29 and performances are slated through June 8 in the FCC Theatre. Tickets are $15 and can be purchased online.
Special Program Celebrations
Several end of year ceremonies were held in May to recognize the hard work of students in the college’s special programs. They included the Asian American Native Hawaiian Pacific Islander celebration, the Dream
Center recognition ceremony, First Year Experience (FYI) end of year celebration, the Rainbow Graduation Celebration, the TRiO Student Support Services recognition and scholarship reception and the Puente
Program end of the year celebration.
Nursing Pinning Ceremony
The Registered Nursing Pinning Ceremony for 114 graduating FCC registered nursing students was held on May 24 at Fresno High School’s Royce Hall. The procession and presentation of the sashes and pins were conducted for each nursing student by the FCC nursing faculty.
Dental Hygiene Ceremony
On May 23rd, the Dental Hygiene Pinning Ceremony was held to honor 30 graduates who successfully completed two years of rigorous academic and clinical training in preventive dental care. Centered around the theme of “Togetherness,” the event featured a keynote address by Greg Nalchajian, DDS, who underscored the importance of teamwork as a foundation for a successful career in dental hygiene.
Fire Academy
The Fire Academy ceremony for Class 63 is slated for June 6 at 6:00 p.m. in the OAB Auditorium. Twenty-six cadets completed the 1,004 hours required by the California State Fire Marshal’s Office Accredited Fire Academy to earn their Firefighter 1 and 2 certifications and numerous other certifications. There are 25 cadets who have been hired as interns by North Central Fire Protection District, Kingsburg Fire Department, Selma Fire Department, Sanger Fire Department, Hanford Fire Department, and Fresno County Fire Protection District. Class 63 volunteered for many community service projects, including the Annual Deaver Fundraiser Dinner, Beautify Fresno, the Alisa Ann Ruch Burn Foundation fundraiser, and Urban Run where they raised over $12,000 for Champ Camp.
Police Academy
The police academy’s graduation ceremony is scheduled for June 26 at 3:00 pm at Cross City Church. There are 50 police cadets in the class with 49 slated to be badged by 12 different agencies at the ceremony. The cadets participated in several community events including a golf fundraiser for the Fresno Police Department (FPD), Ronald McDonald House of Charities Red Heart Ball, Support the Blue Run at Woodward Park, Element of the Arts event at FCC, FPD Mounted Patrol fundraiser, Peace Officers Memorial event in downtown Fresno, and the FCC New Wrinkles Fundraiser
Leon S. Peters Scholarship Reception
On May 7, twenty-four students in the Leon S. Peters Honors Program were each awarded a $1,000 scholarship in a special ceremony held in the OAB, room 114. The FCC Honors Program was founded by the SCCCD Board of Trustees in 1987. It was named in honor of Leon S. Peters, who endowed a trust to assist in funding enrichment activities and other special features of the program.
Leon S. Peters Scholarship Reception
The second annual Rammy Awards Banquet was held on May 13 in the OAB. Fresno City Athletics pulled out all the stops to host a great event displaying their athletic programs success on and off the field. Congratulations to all the FCC student athletes!
Sports Summer Camps
The FCC Summer Grass Volleyball series starts June 7 and includes all levels of play for adults, high school, junior high and elementary school students. All tournaments will be held at the FCC Baseball Field. Information and registration is available on their Instagram page.
The annual Brian F Coulter Memorial Girls Soccer Camp will be held from July 15-17 from 6:00 – 8:00 p.m. at the soccer field. The three-day camp is for girls ages 6-15 and includes a FCC Women’s Soccer shirt. Registration information is on Eventbrite.
Sports Update
Beach Volleyball
The FCC Beach Volleyball team made tremendous strides this season and finished as the highest finishing pair in the program’s 7-year history. After playing 3 matches on Day 1 for the Team State Championships, Lusa Andrews and Phoebe Constable pushed through the morning duel with 3 wins to advance to the final day of the pairs championship. Their Championship match was their 10th game in 3 days.
Baseball
Four players have been named to the All-NorCal American Baseball Coaches Association for 2025. They
include pitcher Bowen Drake, catcher Bo Rico, infielder JP Acosta and outfielder Elijah Moultrie. For the second year in a row, head coach Mitch Karraker was named Central Valley Conference Coach of the Year.
Golf
This year four golfers qualified for the California State Men’s Golf Championship tournament held in Monterey on May 11 and 12. Team captain and MVP, Chase Foster was a 4th place finisher enduring a grueling two rounds with challenging weather conditions that included wind, rain, sun and freezing temperatures throughout the tournament.
Softball
FCC Softball had another strong season and made it through two rounds in the playoffs losing to West Valley College in a two-game series. They finished their season with a 30-15 overall record and 13-2 in conference play. Head coach Linda Garza earned her 400th career victory with the lady Rams capturing the Central Valley Conference Championship title.
