Mildred GarcÃa, the first system-wide president of Berkeley College, will return to the school as commencement speaker on April 29.
Garcia, now president of California State University Fullerton, will deliver the commencement address at the graduation ceremony, which begins at 9 a.m. at the Prudential Center in Newark, N.J. More than 2,200 graduates from Berkeley”™s White Plains campus and eight other campuses in New York City and New Jersey and its online program will receive associate and bachelor’s degrees and certificates in the college”™s 85th anniversary year.
A first-generation college student from New York City, Garcia led Berkeley from 2001 through 2007. She left to serve as president of California State University Dominguez Hills, where she was the first Latina chief executive in the largest system of public higher education in the U.S.
Since taking over as president of Cal State”™s Fullerton campus in 2012, she has earned numerous awards, including the Latina Woman of the Year Award from the Mexican American Opportunity Foundation, the Breaking the Glass Ceiling Award from the California Legislative Women”™s Caucus, and the Business Woman of the Year Award from the National Hispanic Business Women Association.
Garcia was appointed to the President”™s Advisory Commission on Educational Excellence for Hispanics by President Barack Obama and is a founding board member of the National Council for Community and Education Partnerships.
Berkeley College will award her an honorary Doctor of Pedagogy degree at the commencement ceremony.
