Graduation Ceremonies At San Diego Area Colleges Begin Friday

SAN DIEGO COUNTY -- San Diego County's colleges and universities kicked off graduation season on Friday as thousands of new graduates received their degrees.

San Diego State University began a full weekend of ceremonies with graduations for its colleges of Arts and Letters and Health and Human Services. Throughout its weekend of ceremonies, SDSU will award honorary degrees to the university's President Emeritus Sally Roush, homeless advocate Father Joe Carroll and Christopher Sickels, a leader of the Campaign for SDSU fundraising effort, which raised more than $800 million.

All of SDSU's graduation ceremonies will be held at Viejas Arena. Ceremonies began at 9:30 a.m.

The San Diego Community College District will begin graduation ceremonies at its four campuses with Miramar College's ceremony. The college expects to confer more than 1,200 associate degrees on its graduates this year.

San Diego City Councilman Chris Cate will also present the college with a proclamation to commemorate its 50th anniversary.

The district will spread its ceremonies over this weekend and next weekend. In total, the district plans to award nearly 12,000 degrees and certificates this year.

Also, Cal State San Marcos held two ceremonies for its College of Humanities, Arts, Behavioral and Social Sciences at 9 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. In total, the university expects to confer degrees on nearly 3,800 students, 55 percent of whom are the first in their families with a four-year degree. The university's ceremonies are held at CSUSM's Mangrum Track and Field.

City News Service contributed to this report.