HUNTINGTON BEACH : Getting New Students Pomped Up

The Golden West College Symphonic Band played “Pomp and Circumstance.” Faculty of the community college marched down the aisles wearing mortarboards and academic gowns.

The colorful outdoor ceremony Wednesday looked like a graduation, but it was instead the opening of Golden West’s 25th academic year.

As hundreds of students sat on folding chairs or green knolls nearby, Golden West President Judith Valles explained the literal meaning of the ceremony.

“ Convocation comes from the Latin, convocare , which means ‘to come together,’ ” Valles told the audience. “Here at Golden West College, our convocation is used as a form of assembly as we open the academic year.”

A large sign emphasized the significance of the silver anniversary. “Celebrating a Sterling Past, a Golden Future,” the sign said. And the diverse group of students, representing many ethnic groups, underscored the broadening of the college’s outreach.

The principal speaker, Vern Hodge, also emphasized the changing student body of Golden West and other California two-year colleges. Hodge, 48, who attended Golden West in the late 1960s, is vice president of student services at Saddleback College in Mission Viejo.

In the next 10 years, Hodge noted, “California will experience the impact of culturally diverse populations becoming a majority of the state’s population.”

“It is imperative that we design (curricula) and provide services that are sensitive to and promote the cross-cultural development of both new and old Californians,” he said. “. . . If we are to establish a greater understanding among our diverse student populations, it will occur because teaching strategies have incorporated cross-cultural issues into the assignments students in our classrooms are required to complete.”

Valles began to hold the outdoor convocations three years ago, with faculty in full academic regalia, as the official opening of the school year.

The convocation, she said, “is an emerging tradition that captures the spirit and essence of the college and its staff by embracing each academic year as a new beginning, a renaissance.”

Students seemed to like the idea.

“It’s a more official greeting to the students,” said Jamison Murphy, 21, of Garden Grove, a public administration major. “It makes us feel like we belong and we’re getting a real education.”

“It’s good for the students to see the faculty like this,” said Kala McFarland, 18, of Huntington Beach. “We get to see them and see what their goals are for the year to come.”