Formal Graduation a Rite of Passage for CSUN Ventura Campus : Education: More than 200 students will receive bachelor’s and graduate degrees in a ceremony befitting the institution’s growth and longevity.

For the first time in its 20-year history, the Ventura branch of Cal State Northridge will hand out degrees in a formal ceremony.

More than 200 students garbed in traditional black caps and gowns will receive bachelor’s and graduate degrees on Friday, said campus Director Joyce Kennedy.

The students will be joined by professors in colorful academic robes in a rite that will symbolize the strides the tiny Ventura campus has taken in recent years, Kennedy said.

“It’s a very visual and meaningful ceremony,” Kennedy said. “And it shows that we really are moving toward that four-year university.”

The graduation will take place in the large gymnasium at Ventura College beginning at 10 a.m., she said. Cal State Northridge President Blenda J. Wilson will preside over the ceremonies and hand out the degrees, she said.

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To symbolize the formality of the ritual, Wilson will bring with her a three-foot ceremonial staff called a mace, Kennedy said. Members of the campus’ Community Advisory Committee will also be on hand in red robes.

Live music will accompany the ceremony, and the gymnasium will be decorated with fresh flowers, Kennedy said. A college photographer will be on hand to record the event and refreshments will be served afterward.

“We’re all nervous because it’s the first time we’ve done this,” she said. “Even getting the names out and printed up in the program has been a colossal process.”

Ventura campus educators decided to hold commencement ceremonies, instead of the usual informal reception, because this year’s graduating class is so large, Kennedy said.

About 215 students from the Alessandro Drive campus will receive degrees in subjects ranging from liberal studies to environmental health.

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College staff thought the formal ceremony would help commemorate the campus’ 20th year of existence, she said. A spokesman for Wilson said she agreed that it is high time for the Ventura campus to have its own ceremony.

“The Ventura campus has reached critical mass in terms of graduates,” said Bruce Erickson. Wilson “realizes that the commencement exercise is very important to the community.

“The degree will say ‘Northridge,’ but in many ways, this is entirely a Ventura County effort,” he said. “President Wilson is very supportive of Ventura becoming a free-standing and independent institution.”

The Ventura campus offers classes to students in their junior and senior years, as well as an array of courses for those seeking graduate degrees. Long-term plans call for the development of an independent California State university on a lemon grove west of Camarillo, with the full range of classes of a four-year college.

That site was selected in 1991 after a seven-year battle to find a suitable location in Ventura County that was acceptable to nearby residents and elected officials.

Cal State officials have yet to purchase the 230-acre site for the Camarillo campus because of a dispute with one of the property owners. But the master planning of the permanent college has already begun, and university officials hope that construction will begin within a few years.

The average age of Ventura campus students is 34, higher than that of students attending community colleges or other state institutions.

That’s because most students at the Alessandro campus are adults changing careers or obtaining their first degree after years of struggle, Kennedy said.

Friday’s commencement exercise will be especially meaningful to the latter group, she said.

“You’ll see lots of youngsters with stars in their eyes, seeing their moms and dads getting their degrees,” Kennedy said. “And that will represent a first in their family.”