Coastline Community College, which has campuses in Garden Grove and Westminster, held its 39th annual commencement on May 15 at Orange Coast College’s Robert Moore Theatre, a sister college in the Coast Community College District.
Coastline Community College, which has campuses in Garden Grove and Westminster, held its 39th annual commencement on May 15 at Orange Coast College’s Robert Moore Theatre, a sister college in the Coast Community College District.
Coastline awarded a total of 2,636 Associate in Arts and Associate in Science degrees and Certificates of Achievement. The number of degrees and certificates being awarded this year has increased by 767 compared to last year, representing a 70 percent increase. Of the 2,636 degrees and certificates earned by the 2015 graduating class, 1,943 (73 percent) are Associate degrees, and 702 (27 percent) are Certificates of Achievement, a 68 percent increase from last year.
“Coastline provides our students with the strong foundation they need to accomplish their educational and professional goals beyond our institution,” says Dr. Loretta P. Adrian, president of Coastline Community College. “We are so proud that many of our graduates will be continuing their education to pursue their bachelor’s degree at four-year universities—I’m thrilled that we are part of their academic journey.”
The Coastline commencement featured the Installation Support Command at Los Alamitos JFTB Color Guard, who conducted the presentation of the flags. Coastline also recognized the Teacher of the Year, Stephen Barnes; and recipient of the Teaching Excellence Award, Cheryl Chapman, professor and Career & Technical Education Department chair.
Special guests of the commencement included Coast Community College District Board of Trustees President Dr. Lorraine Prinsky, Board of Trustees Members David A. Grant, Jim Moreno, and Mary Hornbuckle, and Interim Chancellor Richard A. Jones.
The 2015 Coastline graduating class ranged from the youngest student at 16 years old to the eldest at age 75. There were a total of three Valedictorians and 288 students who graduated with honors.
The youngest Coastline graduate, Ariana Isbell, has been a dual student since she was in middle school. Isbell is a junior at Fountain Valley High School and majored in Digital Media Arts at Coastline, where she will received two Associate degree certificates in Print Design and Motion Graphic Design. Isbell also earned a perfect 4.0 GPA in all of her college courses.
Coastline’s Military Program awarded 1,143 A.A. degrees, 791 (41 percent) of which were earned through Distance Learning and Coastline’s site-based programs which span throughout the U.S. There were a total of 860 graduates, 194 transfer students, and 172 honor students, six of whom were valedictorians.
Coastline military graduate Wan Saint Charles, retired from the military in 2013 and moved back in with his parents when he decided to attend college. As an east coaster from New York, Saint Charles was interested in attending Coastline and his local community college, Union College. After contacting Coastline, Saint Charles was informed that he could attend both colleges simultaneously.
“My Coastline advisor, Stephanie Rogers, was an angel. She made it easy for me to register and enroll in the classes I needed,” says Wan Saint Charles. “Taking online classes at Coastline made it very convenient for me to complete two degrees, and I cannot thank Coastline enough for all of the great student service.”
Saint Charles double majored at Coastline in Business Administration and Human Resources Management through Coastline’s Distance Learning program, and transferred to the University of Maryland to pursue a bachelor’s degree in Public Safety Administration, with a minor in Emergency Management.
“Coastline remains student-focused: it is who we are and what faculty and staff practice every day, says Nhadira Brathwaite Johnson, director of marketing and public relations. “I love when students contact me to share their positive experiences at Coastline. They express how they are treated as though they are the most important students on earth and it makes me so happy because I know that is what Coastline is all about—putting our students first.”
