Dear Hornet Familia,
This academic year has gone by so quickly and now we’re entering the most exciting time when we celebrate with our students and their families. I remember when I was achieving the milestone – my family was so proud that we were crossing that finish line. We are so fortunate to work in the amazing profession of education. Now as we near the end of our Spring 2026 semester and head into grad season, I want to share that I’m so thankful to all of you and the collaboration we cultivate to make it happen.
Whether you’re a faculty member preparing final projects and exams, or a classified professional wrapping up important end of year projects, I want you to know that you are appreciated. Without you, our students wouldn’t reach the success we are celebrating in the remaining part of this term.
April is just the beginning of our campus efforts to honor our students. This Wednesday, I encourage you to join us at the FC Night: Future Hornet Celebration from 5-7:30 p.m. in the quad. I’d love to thank everyone who volunteered for this event. Your help is greatly needed and will truly craft a wonderful experience for our future students. I look forward to welcoming our incoming familias together and showing them what our comunidad is all about.
We also have our 111th Commencement Ceremony at 9 a.m. on Saturday, May 30 at Sherbeck Field. We’re looking forward to this event, and to make it possible, we need volunteers. Volunteers can expect to help with setup, lining up graduates and more. I highly encourage our staff and faculty to participate in this collective endeavor. If you’re interested in volunteering, please register on our sign-up form.
On the topic of graduations, we also have our cultural graduation celebrations! These celebrations are a terrific opportunity to honor our students’ identities, heritage and personal journeys. We have our APIDA, Black, Lavender and Monarch celebrations, with a special addition to the list – our inaugural Latine cultural graduation celebration. We would love to have you at our celebrations as an attendee, volunteer or as a cheering mentor. Check out our cultural graduations webpage to learn more about each celebration and its volunteer opportunities.
Some of you may be hard at work planning commencement for our 2026 graduates, while others are gearing up to welcome incoming students at our annual FC Night. These two key events are always bittersweet. While one honors the end of the journey at FC, the other celebrates and welcomes a new beginning.
Recently, my family recently celebrated the birthday and retirement of my mom. She has always been a tremendous role model to me. She earned her high school diploma when I too was in high school. She also earned her CTE certificates, became employed and went on to earn her associate’s degree when I was an undergraduate student. She has served countless students in her profession, and what a blessing it is to continue this work daily – transforming the lives of our students who deserve this and more. Her educational trajectory truly inspires me in the work I do with our campus community.
As we navigate this busy season, I encourage you to rest as much as you can and give yourselves grace. The end of a semester always comes with a busy pace, but together, we will thrive and be proud of our accomplishments this year. I look forward to working with all of you to honor our students and their achievements at Fullerton College.
Siempre Fullerton College,
Dr. Cynthia Olivo
President