Fort Lewis College Spring Commencement will take place Friday, April 26 and Saturday, April 27 in Whalen Gymnasium. About 480 students will graduate in three ceremonies held at 3 p.m. on Friday, and 10 a.m. and 1 p.m. on Saturday.
“Our graduating students are ready to do great things with their degrees from FLC, and as an institution we are already so proud of what they’ve accomplished and look forward to supporting them as alumni,” says President Tom Stritikus.
Addressing the graduates will be FLC alumna Jennifer Trujillo and Colorado Lieutenant Governor Dianne Primavera.
For the past three decades, Lt. Gov. Dianne Primavera has been a leading advocate for every Coloradan’s access to quality, affordable healthcare. She’s held many prominent positions throughout the public and non-profit sectors devoted to furthering life-saving medical research and connecting Coloradans who experience illness with the treatment they need to recover. She served four terms in the State Legislature, representing Broomfield, Superior, and parts of Erie, and most recently served as the CEO of Susan G. Komen Colorado, one of the largest organizations in the country dedicated to breast cancer prevention, treatment, research, and education.
Trujillo (English, ’93) has worked as a bilingual multicultural educator for 25 years, serving in English Language Learner education. She received her doctorate in Educational Leadership and Change from Fielding Graduate University in Santa Barbara, California. Her career spans from classroom teacher to ELL/Bilingual Director, to college professor and author. Trujillo worked with teachers and students in the Southwest and the Navajo Nation for over a decade through the Native American Teacher Education Outreach Program at FLC, as well as teaching in the on-campus program in the Teacher Education Department. She is the author of a best-selling literacy program published by National Geographic being used to teach English in 26 states, Mexico, China, Canada and Costa Rica. She has also held domestic and international positions with Pearson Education. She served as an advisory board member of Teaching Tolerance where she focused on social justice in education. She contributed to anti-bias and anti-bullying curriculum now being used in schools across the USA. Most recently, Trujillo was the Director of English Language Learner Initiatives at Learning in Motion in Santa Cruz, CA where she worked on the development of an iPad-based literacy program, collaboration on a large-scale research project in math with the American Institutes for Research, and a STEM curriculum with Stanford University. Trujillo recently was featured in a PBS documentary entitled, “Making It: Latino Student Success.” Currently, she owns an educational technology consulting company that operates remotely out of Durango and also serves as adjunct faculty in the FLC Master of Arts in Education program for Culturally and Linguistically Diverse education.
All three Commencement ceremonies will be livestreamed on the FLC Facebook page at www.facebook.com/fortlewis. A list of the majors awarded at each ceremony can be found at www.fortlewis.edu/graduation. Join the conversation on social media by using #FLCclassof2019.