Commencement

34TH ANNUAL COMMENCEMENT JUNE 15 AT EDMONDS COMMUNITY COLLEGE

Edmonds Community College held its 34th annual commencement ceremony Friday, June 15, at 7:30 pm in the Seaview Hall gymnasium.

The college awarded 1,500 degrees and certificates in career fields, liberal arts transfer, general studies, and high school and GED completion.

Thomas C. Wales acted as Keynote speaker. Tragically, Wales died in a shooting four months after his speech. Wales had served as federal prosecutor at the United States Attorney's office in Seattle for 18 years and was a graduate of Harvard College and Hofstra University School of Law. Wales served on the Federal Bar Association board and as committee chair for the Washington State and King County Bar Associations. He had just completed two terms as Seattle Planning Commission chair and was board president of Washington CeaseFire, a statewide organization dedicated to the elimination of gun violence.

Mary Benitez, 18, a Running Start student, graduated with both her Associate of Arts transfer degree and her diploma from Edmonds-Woodway High School. She has served as editor of The Review student newspaper and worked as a writing tutor at the Learning Support Center. She planned to study computer science at Seattle Pacific University and later at the University of Washington.

Lucy Quek is from Singapore. After several years of working, she came to this country as a returning student to study travel and culture and says she will encourage others to continue learning whatever their age. Quek graduated with her Associate of Technical Arts degree in Hospitality and Tourism. She planned to work for a year as a travel consultant with an Edmonds firm before returning to Singapore.