{"id":4758,"date":"2021-05-20T17:30:00","date_gmt":"2021-05-20T17:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.spcollege.edu\/president\/?p=4758"},"modified":"2024-02-13T18:50:46","modified_gmt":"2024-02-13T18:50:46","slug":"a-commencement-to-remember","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.spcollege.edu\/president\/2021\/05\/20\/a-commencement-to-remember\/","title":{"rendered":"A Commencement to Remember"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>This month, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.spcollege.edu\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">St. Petersburg College<\/a> celebrated its 142nd commencement ceremony virtually and campus grad walks. For the <a href=\"https:\/\/blog.spcollege.edu\/president\/2020\/05\/28\/virtually-celebrating-our-class-of-2020-spring-graduates\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Spring 2021 term<\/a>, the college awarded 2,168 degrees and certificates. The youngest graduate was 17 years old, the oldest was 76 years old and 15 graduates are over the age of 60. With this graduating class, SPC will have awarded 185,204 degrees since the college \u2013 Florida\u2019s first community college \u2013 was founded in 1927.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>During the ceremony, SPC President Tonjua Williams thanked the college\u2019s leadership, faculty and staff for their commitment to students. She also said SPC students are more than ordinary for overcoming obstacles to change their lives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cYou preserved through many challenges this year,\u201d Williams said. \u201cIt is a testament to your resilience and determination that you are here to cross the finish line. You are a diverse group of students from all walks of life, who have turned obstacles into opportunities in order to succeed.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>President Williams closed the special occasion and told graduates, \u201cSt Petersburg College is a special place, where opportunities are endless, hope is never deferred, and dreams come true.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>To watch the commencement ceremony, visit <a href=\"http:\/\/www.spcgraduation.com\">spcgraduation.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>This month, St. Petersburg College celebrated its 142nd commencement ceremony virtually and campus grad walks. For the Spring 2021 term, the college awarded 2,168 degrees and certificates. The youngest graduate was 17 years old, the oldest was 76 years old and 15 graduates are over the age of 60. With this graduating class, SPC will&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":99,"featured_media":4768,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[14,38],"tags":[],"coauthors":[122],"class_list":["post-4758","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","category-we-are-spc"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\r\n<title>A Commencement to Remember - SPC President<\/title>\r\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Read more about SPC&#039;s142nd commencement ceremony where the college awarded 2,168 degrees and certificates both virtually and in-person.\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"robots\" 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