CONTACT: John Dendy, Public Information Officer
(210) 531-3259
Email: jdendy@mail.accd.edu

SAN ANTONIO (Dec. 10, 2007) --- When most people think about community colleges, they think about students taking classes just so they can transfer to a four-year university. But that’s not always the case, especially at St. Philip’s College where a record number of students earning associate’s degrees will walk the stage on Friday, Dec. 14 at 7 p.m. at the Municipal Auditorium.

College organizers believe this year’s graduating class could be the largest in the Alamo Community College district of which St. Philip’s College is a member.

“With a potential of 400 to 500 students walking the stage in caps and gowns this year, we may have the largest commencement exercise in the history of the college,” said Dr. Burton Crow, Dean of Enrollment Management at the college.

The ceremony hosted by College President Dr. Adena Williams Loston is free and open to the public. The guest speaker is author Olga Samples Davis, who was both a former education director at the San Antonio Museum of Art and a teacher at St. Philip’s College. Her recent memoir is “What Mama Told Me.”

The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board rated three St. Philip’s College programs Exemplary in 2007. The school is also on a 2007 top 50 list of colleges where Hispanic students enjoy success. Before graduation day arrives, students who are successful in this environment are eager to attend, said Freddie Zepeda, a St. Philip’s College graduation committee member who has coordinated similar ceremonies for 25 years to include nine years at the college.

“St. Philip’s College does a great gob helping the students achieve their dream. It shows by the growing numbers who want to participate in our graduation ceremony,” Zepeda said.