Commencement Annual
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th 0Annual 5Commencement May 5, 2019 Valencia College fiftieth annual Commencement May 5, 2019 VALENCIA COLLEGE DISTRICT BOARD OF TRUSTEES Bruce Carlson Chair Tracey Stockwell Vice Chair Maria Grulich Guillermo Hansen Rosene Johnson Daisy Lopez-Cid Raymer Maguire, III Lew Oliver, III Beth Smith Commencement marks a great achievement for all who are graduating. We ask that you honor these graduates and ensure that everyone can hear by remaining quiet throughout the entire ceremony and silencing all cell phones. Your cooperation is appreciated. Graduates are recognized in order of seating arrangement rather than alphabetical order. Please note that there is a few seconds delay between the announcement of a graduate’s name and his or her appearance on the video screen. Find photos and video* from today’s event at: Share your own photos: valenciacollege.edu/valenciagrad flickr.com/photos/myvalencia facebook.com/valenciacollege @valenciacollege @valenciacollege *Note: Recording of ceremony available online May 13 at valenciacollege.edu/graduation VALENCIA COLLEGE COMMENCEMENT PROGRAM MORNING CEREMONY Presiding Dr. Sanford C. Shugart, President Special Music Selections .........................................Valencia Brass Ensemble Mr. Jonathan Territo Director Processional Pomp and Circumstance .....................................................Elgar *Welcome and Pledge of Allegiance ..........................Dr. Sanford C. Shugart, President Commendation from District Board of Trustees. .Dr. Bruce Carlson Chair, District Board of Trustees Introduction of Platform Guests ......................................Dr. Kathleen Plinske Executive Vice President and Provost Recognition of Faculty and Staff ......................................Dr. Kathleen Plinske Recognition of Honors Graduates .....................................Dr. Cheryl Robinson Director, Seneff Honors College Recognition of Alumni Association Mary Smedley Collier Distinguished Graduate .............................Ms. Emmy Torres Chair, Valencia College Alumni Association Commencement Address ..............................................Mr. Dalton Joseph 2018-2019 Distinguished Graduate Presentation of Graduates .........................................Dr. Sanford C. Shugart Conferring of Degrees ............................................Dr. Sanford C. Shugart Dr. Bruce Carlson, Chair Ms. Rosene Johnson, Trustee Ms. Beth Smith, Trustee Ms. Tracey Stockwell, Vice Chair Ms. Daisy Lopez-Cid, Trustee Mr. Stanton Reed, Incoming President, Ms. Maria Grulich, Trustee Mr. Raymer Maguire III, Trustee Collegewide Faculty Association Mr. Guillermo Hansen, Trustee Mr. Lew Oliver III, Trustee Closing Remarks ...................................................Dr. Stacey Johnson Campus President, East and Winter Park Campuses **Recessional. 2019 Graduates High Hopes. .Panic! At The Disco Firework. Katy Perry Can’t Stop the Feeling .............................................Justin Timberlake * The audience stands. ** The audience is requested to remain seated until the graduate and faculty recessional has left the arena. 1 VALENCIA COLLEGE COMMENCEMENT PROGRAM AFTERNOON CEREMONY Presiding Dr. Sanford C. Shugart, President Special Music Selections .........................................Valencia Brass Ensemble Mr. Jonathan Territo Director Processional Pomp and Circumstance .....................................................Elgar *Welcome and Pledge of Allegiance ..........................Dr. Sanford C. Shugart, President Commendation from District Board of Trustees. .Dr. Bruce Carlson Chair, District Board of Trustees Introduction of Platform Guests ......................................Dr. Kathleen Plinske Executive Vice President and Provost Recognition of Faculty and Staff ......................................Dr. Kathleen Plinske Recognition of Baccalaureate Graduates ................................Dr. Falecia Williams Campus President, West and Downtown Campuses Recognition of Alumni Association Mary Smedley Collier Distinguished Graduate .............................Ms. Emmy Torres Chair, Valencia College Alumni Association Commencement Address ..............................................Mr. Dalton Joseph 2018-2019 Distinguished Graduate Presentation of Graduates .........................................Dr. Sanford C. Shugart Conferring of Degrees ............................................Dr. Sanford C. Shugart Dr. Bruce Carlson, Chair Ms. Rosene Johnson, Trustee Ms. Beth Smith, Trustee Ms. Tracey Stockwell, Vice Chair Ms. Daisy Lopez-Cid, Trustee Mr. Stanton Reed, Incoming President, Ms. Maria Grulich, Trustee Mr. Raymer Maguire III, Trustee Collegewide Faculty Association Mr. Guillermo Hansen, Trustee Mr. Lew Oliver III, Trustee Closing Remarks ...................................................Dr. Stacey Johnson Campus President, East and Winter Park Campuses **Recessional. 2019 Graduates High Hopes. .Panic! At The Disco Firework. Katy Perry Can’t Stop the Feeling .............................................Justin Timberlake * The audience stands. ** The audience is requested to remain seated until the graduate and faculty recessional has left the arena. 2 A MESSAGE FROM THE ALUMNI ASSOCIATION May 5, 2019 Dear Valencia College Graduate: On behalf of the Valencia College Alumni Association, we would like to extend our enthusiastic congratulations to you on your graduation. This impressive achievement was no doubt a journey of hard work and sacrifice. We are incredibly proud of you and applaud your accomplishments. You can be proud; you have earned an educational credential from Valencia College. The college has consistently ranked as one of the best colleges in the United States. While this may conclude your coursework here, it is only the beginning of your EMMY TORRES relationship with the alumni association. Your alma mater continues to invest in you even after your time as a student. Through support from the college, Valencia College alumni are automatic members of their alumni association. No fees or dues are required—just a passion for the college. This investment keeps you connected to the college for life. As a member, you receive perks like invitations to Valencia College’s Alumni Career Network, invitations to cutting-edge cultural programs, leadership development programs, and a host of ways to connect with students, faculty and staff. You have joined an international network of more than 100,000 alumni who are thought leaders, innovators, and creators striving to make our community better. As a member, wherever your life’s work takes you, you will always be a part of our alumni family. We hope your educational experience at Valencia College has been professionally rewarding and will provide a solid platform for continued success in all your future endeavors. Please stay in touch and let us know about your accomplishments as you leave the college to make your mark in the world. We are proud of you and hope you will come back to campus and visit us often. Congratulations to you and all the members of the Class of 2019 who are celebrating their graduation today. We wish you the very best in the next chapter of your life. Sincerely, Emmy Torres, ‘16 Board Chair Valencia College Alumni Association 3 VALENCIA COLLEGE ALUMNI ASSOCIATION MARY SMEDLEY COLLIER DISTINGUISHED GRADUATE AWARD* Dalton Joseph 2018-2019 DISTINGUISHED GR ADUATE Dalton Joseph came to Valencia College with one goal: to beat the odds. Today, we salute Joseph as the Valencia College Mary S. Collier Distinguished Graduate for 2019. But a few years ago, not many people would have bet on his future. Growing up as the son of Haitian immigrants, in a single-parent home, he faced long odds to start with. To make matters worse, he was surrounded by violence—living in an apartment where a man was murdered outside their front door, and later in a neighborhood where breaking into houses was considered a better job for a teen than mowing grass or washing cars. Against that backdrop, Joseph saw where his life could be headed. And he knew that unless he did something drastic, he could end up like many of his friends: dead or in prison. He came astonishingly close to the same fate. Although he’d been a good student and captain of the basketball team in middle school, Joseph faltered in ninth grade and didn’t get his physical completed in time to participate in sports at Evans High School. That slip-up suddenly provided the once overbooked young athlete with lots of free time—time to hang out with the guys in his neighborhood. And before long, 15-year-old Dalton Joseph was in over his head. Eager to make money—yet uninterested in jobs like cutting grass—Joseph fell in with a gang of young men breaking into homes. “I was going down a dark path,” he says now, “and yet the deeper I got into the juvenile system, the more desperate I felt. There was no turning back.” But when a close friend died, leaving behind a baby he would never know, and his older brother was sent to prison with a sentence of more than 40 years, Joseph took stock of his life. “I asked myself: Do you want to be next?” That moment transformed him. He began working, first in construction and then as a busboy at a restaurant. And as he toiled long hours, he heard the echoes of his father’s voice in his ears. Education is the key to a better life, his father always said. His father knew from experience. A high school dropout, he worked long hours driving a taxi. Fueled by determination, Joseph began studying for a GED. And when