‘Double the joy’: CSUB adds second fall commencement ceremony

Celebrations mark the final graduations for retiring President Zelezny

By California State University, Bakersfield

December 5^th, 2023

For the first time in recent memory, California State University, Bakersfield will hold two fall commencement ceremonies to accommodate the growing number of Roadrunners who wish to mark the milestone with friends, family and the CSUB community.

The ceremonies will take place at Mechanics Bank Arena in downtown Bakersfield at 6:30 p.m. on Friday, Dec. 15, and 9 a.m. on Saturday, Dec. 16.

“Hosting two commencement ceremonies means double the joy,” said Dr. Lynnette Zelezny, who will preside over her final graduations as CSUB president before her retirement on Dec. 31. “Every commencement ceremony is emotional because you feel the outpouring of love and admiration for our graduates and their families. But these ceremonies will occupy a special place in my heart because they will be my last as president of this transcendent university.”

Some 1,381 Roadrunners — spanning all four academic schools and both Bakersfield and Antelope Valley campuses — will receive degrees for the 2023 summer and fall semesters. The two ceremonies will honor the 860 students who have elected to participate, an increase of about 20 percent over last year and more than 40 percent compared with 2021.

“We are so pleased that more and more students are choosing to celebrate this extraordinary milestone with the entire CSUB community,” said Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs, Dr. Vernon B. Harper Jr., who will become interim president of CSUB on Dec. 31.

“We put a great deal of thought and consideration into our commencement planning every year to ensure that our graduates and their families feel honored at this occasion they will remember for the rest of their lives. We realized that in order to acknowledge our graduates appropriately and increase the number of tickets for each student, the time had come to add a second ceremony in the fall.”

A total of 1,056 bachelor’s degrees, 216 master’s degrees, six doctoral degrees in educational leadership, and 96 teaching credentials will be conferred for the summer and fall 2023 semesters. Of that total, 98 Roadrunners achieved the rare distinction of earning their undergraduate degree in under four years. In addition, 48 veterans of the United States Armed Forces will graduate.

The Friday evening ceremony will honor baccalaureate and master’s candidates from the schools of Arts and Humanities, Business and Public Administration and Natural Sciences, Mathematics and Engineering.

The Saturday morning ceremony will honor students earning teaching credentials, bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degrees in the School of Social Sciences and Education.

The ceremonies require tickets for admission. Graduates for the Friday ceremony were given 20 tickets, and graduates for the Saturday ceremony were given 15 tickets.

The university is already planning the three spring commencement ceremonies scheduled for May at CSUB’s Main Soccer Field.

“Getting to this life-changing moment takes years of work and sacrifice, both for students and their families,” Dr. Harper said. “At CSUB, we believe that our Roadrunners have earned this special day, and we are proud to give it to them.”