By Bhavin Bhavsar
Graduation is almost upon CI students. There is a lot being planned in preparation for the event that all college students look forward to making it to. Among the many things to look forward to on the day of the graduation ceremony, there are also the speakers that will talk at commencement of the accomplishments of the students.
The biggest speaker to look out for is the President of Student Government, Atticus Reyes. Reyes will be speaking at both ceremonies. Reyes has been president for one academic year, which is historically the term length that most Presidents serve. Reyes has done a lot of public communications work on campus and even had some experience with politics in Washington D.C.
His broad responsibilities as President include representing the school at various conferences, like the California State Student Association (CSSA) which is a monthly conference between the student associations of the California State Universities. He is also the person that represents the students if the state or the federal government needs to get into touch with a student demographic at CI.
As far as background is concerned, Reyes himself also comes from something of a marginalized past as he is the son of an immigrant and carries a lot of what he describes as “intergenerational trauma.” He was also raised quite heavily by his mother and sisters. Being raised by strong women is something that makes him very proud.
Reyes hopes to talk about what the students of CI might aspire to be as human beings and the achievements the graduates have accomplished during their time here. One of the things he’s been hoping to convey is that he wants the students to have a positive effect on the community. “Let’s be that change we’ve been wanting to see,” said Reyes. It is quite clear how important the speech at the commencement ceremony is to Reyes.
