On June 15, Bellevue College (BC) honored nearly 2,600 graduates, including 186 Redmond residents, at the school’s 45th commencement ceremony.
More than 3,000 family members, friends, faculty and staff packed the BC gymnasium to cheer the class of 2012. Graduates in attendance received both bachelor’s and associate degrees.
“All of us here at the college are so proud of this year’s graduates and all that they have accomplished,” said BC’s Interim President Laura Saunders.
Shiv Batra, a BC Foundation board member, delivered the keynote address. He is a co-founder, CEO and president of INCA Engineers (now a subsidiary of Tetra Tech), a Bellevue-based firm that has worked on some of the largest engineering projects in the world during the last 10 years, including the expansion of the Panama Canal.
Graduate Anh Nguyen, an international student from Vietnam and a member of the All-Washington Academic Team, also spoke during the ceremony. Pauline Christiansen — an English faculty member of 45 years who is retiring after joining the college in 1967, a year after it was founded — also spoke.
This year’s ceremony marked the fourth year in which BC has conferred bachelor’s degrees in radiation and imaging sciences and the second class for interior design graduates. A total of 66 students received four-year degrees this year.
That number is expected to increase in coming years as BC adds bachelor’s degree programs, including one in healthcare technology and management, which is currently enrolling students for classes this fall.
More than two-thirds of this year’s class is made up of graduates who are receiving associate degrees that will prepare them to continue their education at four-year colleges and universities. In recent years, BC has transferred more students to these institutions than any other community college in the state. Other graduates have earned associate degrees or certificates from programs that will help them enter the workforce immediately in areas such as health science, business, early childhood education, information technology and more.
The graduating class includes students ranging in age from 15 to 71. The average graduate’s age was 27, indicating a large number of older students in addition to the “traditional” student who goes to college shortly after high school.
A total of 450 students graduated with a 3.75 grade point average or higher and 421 students graduated with a grade point average between 3.5 and 3.74. Thirty-six have completed their studies with perfect 4.0 averages.
