Hillsborough Community College To Hold 53rd Graduation Ceremony May 6

TAMPA, FL — The 53rd annual commencement exercises for Hillsborough Community College will be held on Friday, May 6, in the Expo Hall of the Florida State Fairgrounds.

This year’s commencement speaker is Shilen Patel, chief executive officer and founder of HealthAxis. The student speaker is Melany Ysabel Sampi Bravo, an international student from Peru who has earned an associate in arts degree in political science.

More than 2,000 students are eligible to participate in the graduation ceremony, which includes those who have completed coursework over the 2021-22 academic year. Graduates include those receiving an associate in arts degree, an associate in science degree and college credit certificates. The youngest graduate is 17-year-old Dylan James Mazard and the oldest graduate is 70-year-old Althea Brown, both of whom have earned associate in arts degrees.

It is anticipated that more than 1,100 students will participate in this year’s ceremony.

Among this year’s graduates are 203 Collegiate Academy students from Armwood, Leto and Lennard high schools who have completed 60 college credits at HCC in addition to their required high school class schedules. This is the sixth graduating class of Collegiate Academy students.

Hillsborough Community College serves more than 42,000 students annually at its five campuses located throughout Hillsborough County.