120th anniversary + 140th ceremony = SPC Student Success

THE BIG NIGHT AT FREEMAN: ST. PHILIP’S COLLEGE 140TH COMMENCEMENT BRIMS WITH DEBUTS: HUNDREDS OF STUDENTS---ALAMO COLLEGES DISTRICT CHANCELLOR DR. MIKE FLORES---AND GUEST SPEAKER JOHNNY HERNANDEZ

St. Philip's College announced today that the 120-year-old college’s 140th Commencement ceremony Dec. 14 at 7 p.m. in Freeman Coliseum at 3201 E. Houston St. will feature the debuts of students and two key local leaders who have each been on amazing, often intersecting journeys in one of the fastest-growing cities in the nation in 2018:

• The corporate leader of the pillar of education in San Antonio---Alamo Colleges District Chancellor Dr. Mike Flores---will make his commencement ceremony debut with district trustees, St. Philip's College students and leadership in a capacity he assumed in 2018 on behalf of the business future of one of the fastest-growing cities in the nation during the amazing era of the St. Philip's College class of 2018.

• Led by his father's firm hand and conviction of self-improvement through education, commencement keynote speaker Johnny Hernandez transformed into a college-degreed chef with two of the most exclusive resorts in the country (Mirage Hotel & Casino-Las Vegas; Four Seasons Biltmore-Santa Barbara). As time progressed, the industry leader has given back by leading such globalism initiatives to put San Antonio's future prosperity on the map as the partnership with St. Philip's College’s exemplary-rated department of Tourism, Hospitality and Culinary Arts business unit that led to the United Nations' City of Gastronomy destination designation for 300-year-old San Antonio---all during the era of the St. Philip's College class of 2018.

Just in time for the last weeks of the city’s Tricentennial observance, several hundred students will ascend to the big stage on the big night at Freeman to receive a bevy of St. Philip’s College degrees and certificates for employment in the multibillion dollar industries of San Antonio and to receive thanks for being the class in session when the college earned both its reaffirmation of accreditation and its 2018 Governor's Award for Performance Excellence while embarking on $100 million in new construction and transformational capital improvements.

The class graduating on Dec. 14 also includes many of the first students to serve in the college’s hub of corporate student government, leadership and entertainment that is the one-year-old Turbon Student Center.

One of the many student success highlights of this ceremony in Military City U.S.A. will be the fifth anniversary of the debut of St. Philip’s College regalia in the form of a red-white-and-blue cord adornment to honor the college’s special population of degree and certificate candidates who are veterans of service in the armed forces. 

The commencement ceremony also marks the sixth anniversary debut of having the special population of female degree and certificate candidates who have graduated from St. Philip’s College degree and certificate programs of study that lead to employment and certification in higher-wage nontraditional occupations where women are a minority honored and visible with cords for completion. A few degree candidates are inevitably among ceremony participants with the honor of wearing both the nontraditional occupations cord and the new veteran cord on their big night hosted by St. Philip’s College President Dr. Adena Williams Loston in Military City U.S.A.

To join the conversation on the upcoming graduation ceremony and the remarkable progress of both students and their college of choice, visit the social media links at the college’s web page yxok.ngskmc-eis.net/spc. For details on the Dec. 14 ceremony, visit the college graduation page at http://ngskmc-eis.net/spc/graduation/, email the college record and registration team at spc-gradadv@ngskmc-eis.net or contact Tracy Shelton, the college’s associate director of records and registration, at (210) 486-2292, tshelton@ngskmc-eis.net.

CAPTION: An archival image of the St. Philip's College Spring 2018 commencement ceremony is a reminder that the 120-year-old college’s 140th Commencement ceremony Dec. 14 at 7 p.m. in Freeman Coliseum at 3201 E. Houston St feature the debuts of students and two key local leaders who have each been on amazing, often intersecting journeys in one of the fastest-growing cities in the nation in 2018. (SPC images by Julysa Sosa)