Legislators Chris Holden, Ed Hernandez 2016 Spring Commencement Speakers
An assemblyman who fought to increase higher education access and a senator who entered politics to improve access to health care will be speakers for University of La Verne’s 2016 Spring Commencement ceremonies May 28.
Senator Ed Hernandez, Chair of the San Gabriel Caucus and Health Committee, is set to speak for the 10 a.m. College of Arts and Sciences and the College of Education and Organizational Leadership ceremony. Serving as speaker for the 3:30 p.m. ceremony for the College of Business and Public Management will be Assemblyman Chris Holden, Assembly Majority Floor Leader. Both ceremonies will be at Citizens Business Bank Arena, 4000 Ontario Center, Ontario.
Nearly 1,500 students have been cleared to graduate and 1,179 plan to participate in the ceremonies.
The ceremonies honor undergraduate and graduate candidates from the university’s main campus, including students from the Campus Accelerated Program for Adults (CAPA) and students studying at regional campuses and off-campus programs overseen by the Regional Campus Administration (RCA).
10 a.m. – Senator Ed Hernandez discovered as an optometrist and local businessman that access to health care in low-income communities was a problem. That prompted him to run for office and he was elected to the state Assembly in November 2006, according to his biography. He won his seat in the California State Senate in November 2010, being reelected in 2014. As Chair of the San Gabriel Valley Legislative Caucus, Hernandez has addressed critical issues affecting the region, including water and transportation. A La Puente native, Hernandez attended Rio Hondo and Mt. San Antonio community colleges before earning a bachelor’s degree in biology from Cal State Fullerton. He and his wife, Diane, set up their first practice in La Puente after Hernandez studied optometry at Indiana University. Hernandez will serve as speaker for the College of Arts and Sciences and College of Education and Organizational Leadership ceremony.
3:30 p.m. – Assemblyman Chris Holden, whose district stretches from Pasadena to Upland, has proposed numerous measures that were signed into law including a bill to remove limits on concurrent enrollment, increasing college access for high school students. Other bills he authored that have been approved provide more funds for domestic violence shelters, create economic opportunities for start-up companies and provide law enforcement tools to fight human trafficking, according to his biography. Holden has also been at the forefront of transportation issues for the region, organizing a transportation roundtable with Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti and 11 other mayors, and serving as Chair of the Assembly Select Committee on Regional Transportation and Interconnectivity Solutions. He previously served 23 years as a Pasadena city councilman and mayor, being only the second African American to serve as Pasadena mayor. Holden is set to speak for the College of Business and Public Management ceremony.
