Wharton County Junior College graduates participate in the afternoon ceremony at the Gene Bahnsen Gymnasium on the Wharton campus. Two ceremonies were held on May 14, with capacity crowds on hand to congratulate the graduates.
WHARTON, TEXAS – Around 200 graduates participated in Wharton County Junior College’s commencement ceremonies this spring, the first time in-person events have been held since the advent of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Two ceremonies were held on May 14, with a morning event for graduates earning an Associate of Arts degree or an Associate of Science degree and an afternoon session for those obtaining an Associate of Applied Science degree. Around 100 students participated in each ceremony, held at the Gene Bahnsen Gymnasium on the Wharton campus. The ceremonies were well attended, with 950 visitors for the morning event and 1,100 for the afternoon. The ceremonies were broadcast at the Horton Foote Theatre in the Duson-Hansen Fine Arts Building to accommodate the maximum capacity crowds.
WCJC students and faculty were also recognized during the events. The President’s Award was presented to Nikhil Paul of Richmond, and Academic Excellence awards were presented to Mauricio Dell of Rosenberg, Nicole Zdarsky of Sugar Land and Sara Pustejovsky of El Campo. Excellence in Teaching awards went to Cindy Diener, Instructor of English; Johnson Cherukara, Instructor of Biology; and Karl Johnson, Instructor of EMS. Special music for the ceremonies was provided by the WCJC Choir under the direction of Dr. Karl Paoletti and accompanied by Debra Lemson.
To view a gallery of photos from the events, click here for the morning ceremony and here for the afternoon ceremony.
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