Commencement

Baccalaureate services will be held in Samuelson Chapel at 8:30 a.m. with Campus Pastors Scott and Melissa Maxwell-Doherty presiding.

Joan Samuelson, founder of the Parkinson’s Action Network (PAN), will address the 546 bachelor’s degree graduates during Undergraduate Commencement services.

An afternoon ceremony will honor the more than 300 master's degree recipients and six doctoral candidates. Guest speaker for Graduate Commencement will be State Assemblywoman Audra Strickland.

Diagnosed with Parkinson's in 1987, Samuelson left the practice of law to found PAN in 1991. She immediately took her fight to Capitol Hill where she walked the halls of Congress. With each meeting, her voice grew a little louder and PAN began to grow into a nationwide advocacy group. Because of Samuelson, who served as president of PAN until 2006, millions of Americans understand more about Parkinson’s disease. In addition to her work at PAN, Samuelson has been the recipient of numerous awards, including being named one of the year's “Legal Eagles” by California Lawyer magazine in 1996.

Strickland, who represents the 37th Assembly District, has authored legislation strengthening punishments for unlicensed drivers and successfully passed a bill to reform California’s exotic animal regulations, following high-profile incidents of animal neglect and abuse. Her legislative priorities include measures to address the state’s economy, the retention of jobs, tax relief for families and public safety. A former junior high school teacher, Strickland was appointed during her first year in office to the Little Hoover Commission, the state’s premiere oversight agency.