Congrats to 2025 LBSU Grads

Long Beach State University celebrates its Class of 2025 with commencement ceremonies from May 18-22 at Angel Stadium of Anaheim. The university anticipated many graduates participating in the events, with more than 12,800 undergraduate and graduate students eligible and nearly 10,000 attended the ceremonies.

LBSU hosted 10 commencement ceremonies over five days at the stadium to accommodate this large cohort and their guests. The venue is capable of hosting more than 100,000 guests across the ceremonies.

The continued use of Angel Stadium, extending beyond when pandemic concerns were a primary driver for off-campus venues, suggests it offers sustained benefits, potentially including capacity and cost efficiencies compared to on-campus events.

A significant and much-anticipated feature of the 2025 ceremonies is the reinstatement and emphasis on individual recognition for each graduate. As students cross the stage, their names are announced and simultaneously, their names, degrees and majors are displayed on the stadium’s jumbotrons.

This is the second year following the use of individual name announcements. This personalized announcement is made by a “GradPass” system, requiring students to pick up their pass and scan it at the stage to trigger the name announcement and visual display.

The university implemented a system allowing graduates to verify and record the correct pronunciation of their names and confirm their preferred name, degree and major for the jumbotron display by a set deadline, with official names used if students did not access the system.

This detailed system for individual name announcements represents a full-bodied response to student dissatisfaction during the 2023 ceremonies at Angel Stadium, where names were not called and graduates did not traditionally walk across a stage.

Meet the Grads

Celeste Cruz graduated with a bachelor’s degree in business marketing and she chose LBSU over others for the better financial aid opportunities she was offered. She was drawn to the major by the potential for financial success and her genuine interest grew, particularly in marketing research.

Celeste has a strong interest in Korean language and culture, having studied abroad in Korea for two weeks last year.

“Since I’ve been in high school, I’ve been like big on that [Korean culture],” she said. Celeste frequently listens to K-pop and has attended several concerts, such as for BTS and TXT.

After graduation, she plans to join a three-month intensive language program in Korea to improve her skills, hoping it will lead to marketing opportunities within Korean companies or events like KCON.

Reflecting on her college experience, Celeste wishes she had joined the American Marketing Association (AMA) club at LBSU for networking opportunities and practical workshops on resume-building and interview skills, if not for the scheduling conflicts.

“I feel like that program would have been extremely helpful, not only with networking, but like gaining a bunch of information and insight that I wouldn’t be able to gain through these classes.”

She felt anxious about networking and interviews, which prevented her from seeking internships during her studies and she wishes her degree required an internship course to “give you that push.” Despite this, she is determined to explore marketing positions after her trip to Korea and envisions a stable office job.

She works part-time at Somi Somi, a Korean ice cream shop, enjoying the work environment and customer service experience, though she sees little link between her job and marketing.

Celeste is family-oriented and the first in her family to graduate on her mother’s side, while her grandfather on her father’s side attended college in Mexico. She anticipates sticking with her chosen path once she commits to it.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, as he was attending community college, he felt confined in his room for a prolonged time.

“I was trapped in this little bubble, stuck in my room doing all my school work and talking to the same two friends that I had,” he said.

Once he transferred to LBSU, Josh realized he needed to “put yourself out there” to break free from isolation. Afterward, he could network and build with others, which he wanted to do during the pandemic, by joining the Long Beach Aviation club.

The club deepened his understanding of aerospace engineering. He pursued an independent research project focused on controls, which is “very closely related to the material and aerospace engineering that I’m interested today in.”

This summer, he secured a potential internship in aerospace manufacturing, an opportunity he received through a friend’s referral, viewing it as a “foot in the door” to the engineering field. While considering graduate school specializing in controls, he remains open to starting with an entry-level position.

Josh believes that while academic qualifications, like his aerospace engineering degree, are vital in initially securing a job, retaining that position hinges significantly on interpersonal skills. He says that once in a role, there’s a crucial need for continuous personal growth, particularly in “interpersonal relations.”

For Josh, this means actively networking, developing strong interpersonal skills within the workplace and effectively going first-hand with “the people side now.”

He emphasizes that what truly contributes to keeping a job is not just possessing the necessary technical expertise but fundamentally “being able to work with people” in a real-world environment, as employers seek individuals they can strongly work alongside.

Reflecting on his college experience, Josh wishes he had engaged in professional development and networking activities sooner, only learning their importance in his last year at community college.

Brandi Modica, a resident of San Diego and an English literature major, transferred to LBSU in the Fall of 2023 after attending community college. Choosing a CSU school over a UC school helped her avoid debt and its proximity to Los Angeles benefitted her music label internships.

As a first-generation student and the youngest in her family, Brandi’s degree represents a tribute to her grandparents, who would have been proud of her achievement. She faced significant personal loss during college, including her grandfather’s passing during finals the day before her birthday and her grandmother passed away last year.

These losses left her feeling lost, overwhelmed and riddled with doubt, questioning her reason to continue pushing through.

“I spent those few years feeling very lost and like I had no reason to keep pushing through.”

She divulged to her parents about her “disillusionment” with her degree and academic career and they reassured her, encouraging her to continue for her grandparents. She saw obtaining a bachelor’s degree with their last name as the “best gift” she could give them post-mortem, reaffirming her perseverance and strength.

“I refuse to let anything or anyone get in the way of my future and my desires,” she said. “I definitely feel prepared for whatever comes my way.”

Her grandfather had supported her education, purchasing her first Macbook at the start of college because he knew she needed it and wanted her to do well. Though seemingly small, this gesture was massive for her and she channeled her grief and love for him into her perseverance.

She recalls that some of her favorite experiences with her grandparents were oddly while they were on their deathbeds. She had her first real, deep conversation with her grandfather during a moment of total consciousness for him, who had dementia and was blind, where they talked about his pain and depression.

At the end of that conversation, he said, “I want to go to sleep now,” which she says was the last time he was coherent.

With her grandmother, with whom she had a more complicated relationship, a memorable and deeply emotional moment occurred three days before she passed when Brandi conditioned and brushed her tangled hair. During this, her grandmother apologized and asked for forgiveness for how she treated Brandi, stemming from “generational trauma,” an experience Brandi will never forget.

In her senior year, Brandi worked as a bartender, which helped her overcome shyness but limited her time on campus. Currently searching for a job, she plans to take a paralegal certificate course and prepare for the LSAT, with aspirations of attending law school and practicing entertainment law, particularly music copyright.

She plans to take a gap year before law school, confident in her dedication to return despite common advice against it. “I know myself, I know my dedication and my break will be just a break,” she states.

She appreciates the transferable skills of her English degree and is also considering digital marketing as a potential career path. In the near future, Brandi sees herself finishing her JD while employed at a law firm.

Graduation by the Numbers

The scale of LBSU’s graduation ceremonies reflects its status as a large public university, especially compared to other CSU schools. For the 2023-2024 academic year, the university conferred a total of 11,129 degrees, including 8,993 bachelor’s degrees, 1,944 master’s degrees and 128 doctoral degrees across various specializations as an “R2: Doctoral Universities – High Research Activity” institution.

The university’s size is also evident in its Fall 2024 enrollment of 39,858 students, with 35,843 undergraduates and 4,015 graduate students. LBSU is a highly sought-after institution, receiving 79,658 undergraduate applications for Fall 2023 and admitting 37,548, resulting in an acceptance rate of 47.1%, which, combined with an average weighted GPA of 3.95 for admitted students, positions it as both accessible and competitive. It is noted as the most applied to campus in the CSU system.

The logistics of celebrating thousands of graduates are complex. The 10 ceremonies are organized by academic colleges, with larger colleges like Business, Liberal Arts and Health & Human Services, each having two ceremonies to manage their large numbers of graduates.

The decision to reinstate individual name announcements comes after the 2023 ceremonies at the same venue drew considerable criticism. In 2023, names were not individually announced and graduates did not traditionally walk across a stage.

The university’s rationale at the time cited the projected length of ceremonies given the large number of potential graduates; calculating just five seconds per graduate for 15,000 potential graduates would amount to nearly 21 hours of name-reading and stage-walking, making individual ceremonies excessively long and impacting the stadium’s ability to manage multiple events.

The nearly 10,000 graduates of the LBSU Class of 2025 include 31% of first-generation students, with 94% residing in California, representing 46 counties and 52% from Los Angeles County, along with students from 29 other U.S. states and 59 other countries.

For any inquiries or further information, please contact Jose Cervantes at JoseC.Press@pm.me