With the spring semester wrapping up, it’s a time of celebration for many of Los Medanos College’s Mustangs as they prepare to graduate from their higher education to a new point in their lives. The 2025 commencement ceremony will be held May 23 at 2:15 p.m. inside the LMC stadium on the Pittsburg campus. Students who are graduating can purchase a cap and gown at the LMC bookstore beginning May 5, with the deadline being May 16.
Behind the scenes, careful planning is done to ensure that an event this size goes well, thanks to the work of a dedicated LMC graduation committee. Dean of Student Success Dave Belman has been a part of the committee for 10 years to date.
“Our goal is always to strike a balance between formal and fun, honoring the significance of the occasion while also making it feel personal and celebratory,” Belman said. “It’s a moment to celebrate our students’ hard work and accomplishments in a way that feels both meaningful and joyful.”
The LMC graduation committee begins planning months in advance of the actual graduation ceremony date. LMC bookstore Manager Robert Estrada, along with two bookstore staff members who work on the committee, worked together to coordinate the cap and gown packages.
“We typically order around 700 graduation cap and gown packages and sell between 500-550 each year,” Estrada said. “The biggest challenge is usually trying to estimate how many of each size gown to purchase in advance. They are not ‘one size fits all’ and are based on the student’s height, so we do our best to estimate how many of each size to order in advance.”
The graduation regalia is an important tradition pertaining to graduations and dates as far back as medieval times, where it was used to symbolize status. It would eventually become a standard in proceedings all around the world, with each institution adopting its own distinctive changes to the garment. Due to its cultural significance, caps and gowns could cost more than students can afford and justify for a one-time event, but Estrada wants to highlight the involvement of the President’s office in their pricing decision.
“The President’s office deserves a shoutout for subsidizing half the cost of the graduation regalia package so that it’s more affordable for students to participate in the graduation ceremony,” Estrada said. “The price for the graduation regalia package is $21.10 plus tax, but the cost to students would be twice that if not for the President’s office.”
While Estrada strongly encourages students to get their graduation regalia before the May 16 deadline, the bookstore will accommodate students who have extenuating circumstances. The reason behind the deadline is to determine how many chairs to order and place on the field on the day of the event.
Although the caps and gowns are standard now, in the early years of LMC, the ceremonies were a little less formal. Professor Estelle Davi has worked with the college since the beginning and has attended many of the graduations that occurred on campus.
“They were held in the LMC gymnasium,” said Davi. “Faculty, staff, and students did not wear caps and gowns, and there was not a formal procession of faculty entering followed by a procession of graduating students.”
Back then, Faculty sat among friends and family in the audience while students were seated in a designated area while they received their certificates. As the number of graduates increased in the following years, LMC made the change to move the ceremony outdoors to accommodate the growing crowd. The ceremony would later evolve to include the traditional graduation regalia worn among students and continues to see change today.
“We’ve been live streaming for several years now, and this year we’re adding large video projection screens in the stadium to improve visibility for guests,” Belman said. “Some of our student clubs are also planning interactive booths outside the stadium after the ceremony to keep the celebration going after the ceremony.”
While some colleges bring in guest speakers, the graduation committee made the conscious choice at LMC to instead put the focus on the students graduating.
“Each year we feature two student speakers, and last year President Ralston began a new tradition of giving surprise shout-outs to individual graduates during the ceremony, which was a big hit,” Belman said.
The graduation commencement ceremony is an important milestone for students and allows families’ and staff to acknowledge the hard work each graduate has put into their studies. For Davi, some of her favorite moments are seeing all the students achieve their academic goals and seeing the excitement among everyone. It’s a celebration that not only involves close family and friends, but the faculty at LMC too.
“For many of our graduates, they are the first person in their family to graduate from college,” Belman said. “I hope that we can create incredible memories for our graduates as well as their families and friends.”
