PRIDE, JOY FILL DAY FOR CLU GRADUATES; COMMENCEMENT CEREMONIES MARK START OF NEW LIVES.Byline: David Greenberg The creator of this article, or someone who has substantially contributed to it, may have a conflict of interest regarding its subject matter. It may require cleanup to comply with Wikipedia's content policies, particularly neutral point of view. Daily News Staff Writer No one was happier to have earned a degree from California Lutheran University Mission statement The University's mission statement is as follows: "California Lutheran University is a diverse, scholarly community dedicated to excellence in the liberal arts and professional studies. on Saturday than 30-year-old Simi Valley Simi Valley (sē`mē, sĭm`ē), city (1990 pop. 100,217), Ventura co., SW Calif. in an oil, fruit, and farm region; laid out 1887, inc. 1969. resident Brooke Perez. After spending the last seven years meshing her duties as a Simi Valley elementary school elementary school: see school. teacher with her master's degree master's degree n. An academic degree conferred by a college or university upon those who complete at least one year of prescribed study beyond the bachelor's degree. Noun 1. program in curriculum and instruction, Perez can now focus on getting a job as a course planner for a local school district. ``Finally it's over,'' she said. ``No more studying. Give somebody else the work.'' Under sun-drenched skies, Perez joined 159 other graduate students and 375 undergraduates during Cal Lutheran's 36th commencement ceremonies on the school's football field. Highlights included a speech titled ``Good People Do Good Things'' by commencement speaker the Rev. Jim Ford Jim Ford is an American singer-songwriter originally from Harlan County, Kentucky. After living in New Orleans, Ford moved to Los Angeles, and finally settled in Northern California, where he now resides. His music is a mixture of soul, country and folk. , the U.S. House of Representatives chaplain. ``When you decide to sail an ocean and select a crew, you don't pick sailors and teach them to be good people,'' he said. ``You pick good people and teach them to be sailors.'' Cal Lutheran spokeswoman Lynda Fulford said graduation is a special time for students because they are leaving one part of their life behind and beginning a new phase. ``It's the development of a new life,'' she said. ``It leads to careers and more learning.'' For Achebe Ekpo, 30, of Nigeria, Africa, getting a degree was merely a steppingstone step·ping·stone n. 1. A stone that provides a place to step, as in crossing a stream. 2. An advantageous position for advancement toward a goal. for the master's program he will study at Howard University Howard University, at Washington, D.C.; coeducational; with federal support. It was founded in 1867 by Gen. Oliver O. Howard of the Freedmen's Bureau, to provide education for newly emancipated slaves. A normal and preparatory department was opened the same year. in Washington D.C., en route to becoming a physical therapist. ``I'm happy,'' he said of Saturday's ceremony. ``But I'm not excited. I've got four more years to go. This is nothing new.'' Student speakers Gail Strickler of San Bernardino and Julie Baumgartner of Redlands, took turns reading from their script, proclaiming that the Class of 1999 had dispelled the myth of the Generation X slacker. ``We are not slackers or lazy,'' said the two, alternating sentences and, at times, words. ``Rather we are future doctors, teachers, lawyers, CEOs, accountants, pharmacists, librarians, architects, police officers, supervisors and pastors. We are the movers and the shakers. We are the tomorrow.'' CAPTION(S): Photo PHOTO (Color) Graduate Daniel Acab celebrates during ceremonies Saturday at California Lutheran University in Thousand Oaks. Michael Owen Baker/Daily News |
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