Nursing ceremony set for May 14
DOUGLAS — Cochise College will hold its 50th commencement ceremony at 7 p.m. May 15 on the Douglas Campus, where the college first opened its doors for classes in 1964.
Students completing their first and second years of the nursing program will participate in a pinning ceremony at the campus the evening prior. Both ceremonies will be tobacco-free, including e-cigarettes. Offices at all campuses and centers will close at 3 p.m. on commencement day.
“In September 1964, we welcomed 491 students, and 50 years later, we serve over 14,000 students annually,” said Cochise College president J.D. Rottweiler. “A local institution of higher education makes a tremendous impact on a community. It’s an honor for us to be here to mark this milestone in the college’s history and to continue its mission to serve the citizens of Cochise County.”
All graduates will wear red gowns this year to commemorate the 50th anniversary. The ceremony will also feature alumni marshals from the first graduating classes at the college: 1965 graduate Fred Necoechea and 1966 graduates John and Rosaline Pintek and David Mosow.
This year, Cochise College will award about 1,500 diplomas for the summer and fall 2014 and spring 2015 semesters, and about 300 students are expected to participate in commencement ceremonies. Live online streaming, accessed at www.cochise.edu, will allow friends and relatives to see everything from the processional to the last graduate crossing the stage.
GradImages will photograph all graduates at the commencement ceremony. Graduates should visit www.gradimages.com and click Pre-Event Email Registration to enter their email addresses and up to six emails of loved ones who would like to view and order photos. Students who register their information before commencement on May 15 can get $5 off on orders of $25 or more. After graduation, order online at www.gradimages.com or call (800) 261-2576.
Blake Suarez
The student speaker at commencement will be Blake Suarez, the president of the Sierra Vista Student Government Association. He is majoring in biology and plans to transfer to the University of Arizona. Suarez is an All-Arizona scholar and a member of science department’s undergraduate research team that has earned national recognition for studies of bean beetles and wildlife navigation. He also has been a representative on the National Collegiate Honors Council and is a former vice president of communications for Phi Theta Kappa – Alpha Mu Zeta chapter.
Two new faculty emeriti will also be honored during the commencement festivities: art instructor Monte Surratt and Spanish instructor Martha Bordelois.
Surratt was hired at Cochise College in 1989, and he continues to teach part-time after his retirement in 2012. Surratt attended the University of Arizona throughout his college career, earning his Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in 1972 and his Master of Fine Arts degree in 1979. In his 22 years at Cochise, he was a recipient of the NISOD Excellence Award and also served as a department chair for seven years and an associate dean for eight years.
“It’s been very rewarding. I couldn’t ask for a better job — if you have to have a job and work for someone,” he laughed. “I just really have enjoyed my time here, and that’s why I’m still doing it.”
Bordelois holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the University of Havana. She was hired at Cochise College as a part-time instructor in 1990 and full time in 1993. She retired in 2012. In addition to Spanish classes, she also taught Russian, a language she learned as a young woman prior to moving to the United States, where she mastered English as a third language by taking classes at Cochise College. Bordelois represented the college at a convention of the American Association of Teachers of Spanish and Portuguese in Puerto Rico in 2000. She was also a recipient of the NISOD Excellence Award.
“I’m still learning; my entire life is a learning experience,” she said. “Teaching is my passion. I grew up a lot in that institution and I learned a lot there, from my students and all my colleagues.”
The pinning ceremony recognizing this year’s nursing class will begin at 7 p.m. May 14 on the Douglas Campus. About 100 students will participate, with first-year students recognized for earning certification and second-year students honored for earning their Associate of Applied Science degree, making them eligible to take the exam to become a registered nurse.