City Times
sdcitytimes.com
n nEdit io o i t a u d Gra
Covering the San Diego City College community since 1945
Volume 73, Issue 5 May 24, 2019
Cit y Col l ege pay s pr ic e f or Con v en t ion Cen t er mov e BYVICKYPINEDA ASSISTANTSPORTS EDITOR
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Gr aduat e Br yan Josue Cr uz Telles hugs his mot her , Rosa Mar ia Telles Cisner os, in fr ont of a paper flower collage at t he 49t h Annual Chicano Lat ina Gr aduat ion Celebr at ion ear lier t his mont h, one of at least t hr ee similar celebr at ions befor e t oday's commencement . By Br ian Mohler / City Times
he city of San Diego?s planned Balboa Par k r enovation pr oject, which was meant to r enovate the Plaza de Panama section of the par k, for ced San Diego City College to look for alter native venue options for its year ly commencement cer emony. The pr oject has since been scr apped, but not befor e City College contr acted the San Diego Convention Center to hosts its 105th commencement cer emony. ?As far as I know its been at Balboa par k a long, long, long time,? said M ar ciano Per ez, dean of Student Affair s. This year ?s gr aduates would be among the fir st to walk at the Convention Center instead of the r egular tr adition at Balboa Par k. Gabi Vankonynenbur g, a film major who is waiting to hear back fr om USC and has been accepted at UC San Diego and San Diego State, will be one of the estimated 700 gr aduating students. She knew that City College gr aduation is usually held at Balboa Par k. She found out about the change in venue when she got the invitation in the mail. ?I was amazed (about having) gr aduation in downtown, by the water,? Vankonynenbur g said. ?Balboa Par k is amazing, but being surr ounded by the bay makes the cer emony mor e special.? The change of venue is costing City College near ly twice as much
Leavingtheir mark: Graduatingstudents maDeimpact whil e at City Col l ege| pg. 2
as the past commencement. The Balboa Par k venue cost about $40,000, while the Convention Center will r un the college about $72,000-$75,000. Another downside? Par king on site will not be fr ee. However, ther e ar e some pr os about moving downtown. Ther e will be food vendor s at the site, something Balboa Par k didn?t have. The Convention Center is also close to the Gaslamp Quar ter, wher e gr aduates and their families could eat near by. The Convention Center will hold between 3,500 and 4,000 people, including the gr aduates. An over flow r oom was also added, which will also be available for people with kids. M onitor s showing the gr aduation will be available ther e. The expectation is the move downtown is tempor ar y. ?The plan has always been to go back to Balboa Par k once it becomes available," Per ez said. ?We'r e alr eady ... thinking about what ar e some potential places, if we ar e not in the Convention Center and we ar e not in Balboa Par k, wher e else could we be. So we alr eady began to explor e some of those options.? Ricky Shabazz, the pr esident of City College, is going to meet with the city manager in the summer to discuss the futur e of Balboa Par k as the commencement site again. ?We want it to be meaningful for our students," Per ez said. "We don?t want to just be in a place wher e students have no connections.?