2025 Commencement Central
Cypress College’s 58th Commencement
Friday, May 30, 2025 at 4 p.m.
Graduation is a momentous occasion and participating in the commencement ceremony is a privilege you have earned through your hard work and dedication to pursuing your educational goals.
Missed the cap and gown order deadline?
Limited cap and gown packages are available through Student Life & Leadership. Pay for your cap and gown at the Bookstore and bring your receipt to Student Life & Leadership to pick it up.
Free Pathway Sash Distribution May 5-23
Free pathway sashes for graduates to keep and wear at commencement will be available for distribution May 5-23. Simply head to Student Life & Leadership during regular business hours (Monday-Thursday at 8 a.m. – 6 p.m.) and let them know you’re there to pick up your pathway sash!
Commencement Ceremony
Cypress College is excited to recognize and celebrate student achievement! The college’s in-person, on-campus celebration for this year’s 58th Commencement Ceremony will be held on Friday, May 30, 2025.
Note: Participation in the commencement ceremony is not required to graduate. If you plan to participate, an RSVP will be requested to assist us with planning and logistics, but not required. A link to the RSVP page has been emailed to those in the Class of 2025.
You must purchase and wear academic regalia (cap and gown) to participate in the commencement ceremony.
Regalia & Free Pathway Sashes
Purchase and wear academic regalia in celebration of this occasion!
Purchase and wear academic regalia in celebration of this occasion! Limited cap and gown packages are available through Student Life & Leadership. Pay for your cap and gown at the Bookstore and bring your receipt to Student Life & Leadership to pick it up.
Have a question or need assistance? Please reach out to Student Life and Leadership by emailing studentlife@cypresscollege.edu, calling (714) 484-7198, or stopping by the Student Life and Leadership Center (Bldg. 8) during regular business hours (Monday-Thursday at 8 a.m. – 6 p.m.).
Free Pathway Sash Distribution
Free pathway sashes for graduates to keep and wear at commencement will be available for distribution May 5-23. Simply head to Student Life & Leadership during regular business hours (Monday-Thursday at 8 a.m. – 6 p.m.) and let them know you’re there to pick up your pathway sash!
Important Day-Of-Commencement Information
On Friday, May 30, graduates must meet behind the Student Center in the pond area next to the Veterans Resource Center by 3 p.m. Please arrive dressed in your cap and gown, and do not be late.
Graduates will be grouped by academic pathway (i.e. Business/CIS; Career Technical Education; Fine Arts; Health Science; Kinesiology; Language Arts; Science, Engineering, Mathematics; Social Sciences; and Counseling, liberal arts, and other majors in We Journey Together). There will be a short briefing before you proceed to the ceremony area. You will also be handed a reader card, which you will need to fill out so the graduate reader can announce your name as you walk across the stage. The processional will begin and recessional will end at the pond.
Etiquette
Please adhere to the following etiquette during the commencement ceremony:
- Graduates MAY NOT bring any bags, purses, or other items that may hinder them during the ceremony.
- Decorum is an expectation at commencement. Out of respect for your fellow graduates, you must remain present for the entire duration of the ceremony; do not leave the ceremony after your name has been called and you have walked across the stage. You will be promptly directed back to your seat. If you or your friends and family intend to make dinner reservations or other celebratory plans, please make sure to schedule them accordingly.
- Excessive noisemakers, such as airhorns, cowbells, thunder sticks, whistles, etc., are prohibited at the event. All attendees are expected to be courteous to the speakers, fellow graduates, and other families/guests waiting to hear their graduates’ names called.
- Guests with balloons must either sit in the very back of the seating area or leave the balloons in a vehicle during the ceremony so as not to obstruct the view of other guests.
Guest Information
You are welcome to invite as many guests as you would like; however, all guest seating is available on a first-come, first-served basis. Reserving of seats at the event is strictly prohibited.
Immediately following the ceremony, all graduates, as well as their friends and family, are invited to meet behind the Student Center (in the pond area next to the Veterans Resource Center) to meet and take photos with some of your favorite faculty and staff members.
On-Campus Parking and Accessibility
Parking will be free on the day of commencement. Lots 1 and 9 are recommended for all attendees; however, all lots will be open if additional parking is needed. Lot 1 is recommended for accessible parking.
A priority seating area will also be available at the ceremony for guests with physical/mobility disabilities.
Gifts and Photography
At the event, the Cypress College Bookstore will have a booth offering flowers, balloons, and collegiate gifts available for purchase. Our campus food service will also have light snacks for sale.
A professional photography service will also be on-site during the ceremony taking photos of individual graduates as they walk across the stage. These individual photo packages should be available for purchase online within two weeks following the event. Media wall photo opportunities will be available for personal photography at the event.
2025 Outstanding Graduate
Every year, one student graduating in the current academic year who has earned a cumulative GPA of at least 3.75 and demonstrated great personal achievement in addition to their scholarly success is selected as the Outstanding Graduate of the Year.
The 2025 Outstanding Graduate of the Year is Hannah Kampitan.
Hannah was committed and on her way to a four-year private university immediately after graduating high school. But the financial reality of attending a private four-year set in as she reflected on her future student loan debt and her parents’ piling medical bills.
Ultimately, Hannah put her four-year dreams on hold and started at Cypress College in the Charger Experience Program, which offers first-time college students two years of free tuition. After her first few months at the college, she said she learned that “a valuable education does not need to come at an unbearable price tag,” noting that if she had gone straight to the four-year, she would have already accumulated six-digit debt in student loans.
Although she’s saving money, Hannah is still juggling three part-time jobs while leading three programs on campus; she is a lead peer tutor in the English Peer Tutoring program, co-editor-in-chief of The Cypress Chronicle, and president of the Honors Club. Her drive and passion are derived from helping others, and she aspires to work in public relations to represent “leading figures and organizations who will use their platform for good.”
After graduating from Cypress College, Hannah will transfer to UCLA in fall 2025 to continue her studies in media and PR.
2025 Presidential Scholars of Distinction
In 2019, Cypress College started a new tradition with the selection of the inaugural cohort of Presidential Scholars of Distinction, an academic recognition and scholarship intended to honor nine students who exemplify what it means to be a Cypress College student. The Presidential Scholars are nominated by the faculty in their specific academic major clusters, selected by the members of that academic pathway, and affirmed by President Scott W. Thayer, Ed.D.
| Bryan Pham, Business/CIS | Esmeralda Alba, CTE | Natalia Mindru, Health Science |
| Benjamin Alarcon, Kinesiology | Christina Guadarrama, Language Arts | Dominique Waddell, Science, Engineering, and Math |
| Chase Curnow, Social Sciences | Fernando “Sushi” Lizarraga, Visual and Performing Arts | Candyce Young, We Journey Together |
2025 Alumnus of the Year
The alumnus of the year is an award administered by the Cypress College Foundation to recognize the achievements of Cypress College alumni and their contributions to their profession and community.
The 2025 Alumnus of the Year will be announced in May.
2025 Outstanding Faculty Awards
Each year, the Academic Senate conducts a nomination and selection process for three faculty awards: the Outstanding Full-Time Faculty Award; the Outstanding Adjunct Faculty Award; and the Charger Award, presented to the faculty member who goes above the call of duty for professional duties outside the classroom.
| Outstanding Full-Time Faculty Kendyl Covey, English | Outstanding Adjunct Faculty Raymond Gibson, Theatre Arts | Charger Award Jennifer Coopman, Mathematics |