APPLY
VISIT
GIVE
Program
PRESENTATION OF COLORS AND NATIONAL ANTHEM
Dr. Michael E. Spagna
Provost and Vice President, Academic Affairs
CSU Dominguez Hills ROTC Color Guard
Elizabeth Escobar
National Anthem Singer
WELCOME AND PLATFORM PARTY INTRODUCTION
Dr. Thomas A. Parham
President
POSTHUMOUS STUDENT RECOGNITION
Dr. Michael E. Spagna
Provost and Vice President, Academic Affairs
INTRODUCTION OF STUDENT SPEAKER
Dr. Sheela Pawar
Chair, Academic Senate
STUDENT SPEAKER
Dulce Ornelas
BA, Psychology
INTRODUCTION OF KEYNOTE SPEAKER
Dr. Michael E. Spagna
Provost and Vice President, Academic Affairs
COMMENCEMENT ADDRESS
Dr. Melanie Lundquist
Activist Philanthropist
ALUMNI PINNING
Dr. William Franklin
Vice President, Student Affairs
RECOGNITION OF HONORS RECIPIENTS
Dr. Michael E. Spagna
Provost and Vice President, Academic Affairs
PRESENTATION OF CLASS FOR CONFERRAL
Dr. Michael E. Spagna
Provost and Vice President, Academic Affairs
CONFERRAL OF DEGREES AND PRESENTATION OF CANDIDATES
Dr. Thomas A. Parham
President
TASSEL TURN AND CONGRATULATIONS
Dr. Thomas A. Parham
President
CONGRATULATIONS
Mr. Edgar Mejia-Alezano
President, Associated Students, Inc.
Platform Party
COMMENCEMENT SPEAKER
Dr. Melanie Lundquist
Activist Philanthropist
STUDENT SPEAKER
Dulce Ornelas
BA, Psychology
CALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY, DOMINGUEZ HILLS
- Dr. Thomas A. Parham
President - Dr. Michael E. Spagna
Provost and Vice President, Academic Affairs - Dr. William Franklin
Vice President, Student Affairs - Ms. Deborah Wallace
Vice President, Administration and Finance - Dr. Bobbie Porter
Vice President, Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Justice - Mr. Chris Manriquez
Vice President, Information Technology - Ms. Eva Sevcikova
Vice President, University Advancement - Dr. Sheela Pawar
Chair, Academic Senate - Mr. Ken O’Donnell
Vice Provost, Academic Affairs - Mr. Edgar Mejia-Alezano
President, Associated Students, Inc. - Dr. Timothy Caron
Dean, College of Arts and Humanities - Dr. Joseph Wen
Dean, College of Business Administration and Public Policy - Dr. Jessica Pandya
Dean, College of Education - Dr. Corinne Martinez
Associate Dean, College of Education - Dr. Mi-Sook Kim
Dean, College of Health, Human Services and Nursing - Dr. Enrique Ortega
Interim Associate Dean, College of Health, Human Services and Nursing - Dr. Philip LaPolt
Dean, College of Natural and Behavioral Sciences - Dr. Kim Costino
Dean, Undergraduate Studies - Dr. Stephanie Sterling Brasley
Dean, University Library - Dr. Andrew Drummond
Associate Vice President, Academic Advising and Career Development - Dr. Cheryl Koos
Associate Vice President, Faculty Affairs and Development
Commencement Speaker
Dr. Melanie Lundquist
Activist, Philanthropist
Melanie Lundquist is an activist and philanthropist whose voice is as fearless as her life-changing work. Her philanthropic focus is on improving public education, fighting climate change, making health care more accessible, and saving democracy, all through “big bet,” maximum-impact philanthropy done with a focus to bring solutions and change to scale.
Lundquist is one of the original supporters of the Initiative to Accelerate Charitable Giving, a bi-partisan effort to promote common-sense reforms to increase and accelerate funding and resources to America’s charities.
Melanie and her husband Richard are two of California’s most significant philanthropists, having pledged more than $400 million over the last decade. The Lundquists are signatories of the Giving Pledge and have appeared five times on The Philanthropy 50, the annual list of America’s 50 most generous philanthropists.
Lundquist’s personal history helps guide her perspective on philanthropy. Her grandparents on her mother’s side were immigrants from Poland and came to Los Angeles to pursue the American Dream for their family. Lundquist was inspired by the way her grandparents gave back to the community.
She serves as Vice Chair of the Board at the Partnership for Los Angeles Schools, one of the largest, in-district (non-charter) public school transformation organizations in the United States. She is also a member of the Board of Directors of News Literacy Project, a nonprofit organization that is the country’s largest provider of news literacy education.
Lundquist is also a member of the University of Southern California (USC) President’s Leadership Council. She was named “Philanthropist of the Year” in 2019 by the Los Angeles Business Journal. In 2020, McPherson College recognized Melanie’s significant body of philanthropic work by conferring upon her a Doctor of Humane Letters (LHD). Melanie holds undergraduate and graduate degrees from USC in communicative disorders/speech pathology and audiology, as well as a credential as a specialist in special education.
