2025 Multicultural Commencement Celebration & Reception

Date: Tuesday, May 6th, 2025 from 3-4pm Location: Gensler Courtyard

• Graduating Students ONLY Register to participate in this year's celebration here.

Questions, please email Janeece Hayes, Director of Belonging & Inclusion.

The Office of Student Belonging and Inclusion hosts the graduating class and CCA community to celebrate our students of color and international students during our annual Multicultural Commencement Celebration.

CCA’s Multicultural Commencement Celebration is held each year to honor BIPOC students who identify as members of communities of color / ethnicities (Black/African, Native / Indigenous, LatinX, Asian, Middle Eastern, North African, Mixed or Multiracial people), and international students.

Held typically in the week before the formal commencement ceremony, we gather together to celebrate & acknowledge their achievements and contributions to the CCA community. Our celebration includes:

• inspiring & engaging speeches by alumni, faculty & staff)
• the chance to cross the MCC "stage" to celebrate your success and receive your teal & gold honor cord
• music, mini-cupcakes & food to share with friends, family & well-wishers!

Participation for graduating students is optional. If you are eligible to participate in the Commencement ceremony, please register for the MCC here.

Is the Multicultural Commencement Celebration for YOU?

This is a fair question to ask yourself! First thing's first, if you are a graduating student, you are on your way to determining the answers. Here, we hope to provide some further insight that will help you to decide if participation at this event is of interest to you.

• Do you identify as "BIPOC" - Black, Indigenous, Person of Color? Folks who may identify in this way are typically of Black/African descent, Native American / Indigenous, LatinX, Asian, Middle Eastern and other ethnic identities, mixed-race and/or multiracial. If this is you, you are welcome to participate!
• Are you an international student? If you are graduating from CCA studying under an F1-J1 visa or from another country, then you are welcome to participate!

Do you want to show your support even though you are not graduating or are an ally? Allies & friends are welcome to attend as guests. There is no need to register.

Are you a graduating and also member of the LGBTQIA+ community? Click here to learn more about the Lavender Commencement Celebration!

The Multicultural Commencement Celebration is a pre-commencement celebration to honor students from historically underrepresented communities and international students who, through unyielding determination, have successfully completed an undergraduate or graduate degree from California College of the Arts. This celebration reinforces the bonds of art & scholarship and extends the sense of community. It honors the heritage and culture of our students and culminates with presenting graduates with a teal and gold honor cord.

CCA's annual Multicultural Commencement Celebrations began in the spring of 2017 on the Oakland Campus. Initially hosted by the Staff of Color Alliance, the MCC (and later the addition of the Lavender Commencement Celebration), they sought a community wide and centralized way to celebrate students of color, many of whom were also first generation college students, for their hard work and persistence toward completing a college degree. While it was not the first time people had gathered to specifically celebrate students of color at the College it was the first time that it was done as a part of the graduation celebrations / traditions at CCA. The Staff of Color Alliance, with support from the Office of Student Life and the President's Diversity Steering Group, sought funding for and hosted the event until 2019. Now an officially institutionalized event, it is hosted by the Office of Student Belonging & Inclusion and is considered a key end of year tradition by the Chimera community.

The Multicultural Commencement Celebration recognizes and celebrates the achievements of our graduating students who identify as part of the African Diaspora, Asian American and Pacific Islander, LatinX, Native American / Indigenous and other communities of color who are historically and still often underrepresented or unseen in the "traditional university environment". Historically, the need for communities of color to gather in times of joy and in grief was seen as a time to heal, and a time to build strength and resilience to be in the world. It is also a time to be proud of accomplishments that are both for the individual and the collective communities they represent, as often these are seen as familial and communal successes. In particular, this celebration honors the distinctive accomplishments of our graduates and commemorates the unique cultures that have shaped their journey here at California College of the Arts. Ultimately, we hope to showcase our graduates’ dedication to their greater communities during their time at CCA and encourage them to remain committed to the community, wherever life may take them.