U.S. TREASURER TO SPEAK
AT MISSION COLLEGE COMMENCEMENT

United States Treasurer Rosario Marin will be the featured commencement speaker on May 31 when Los Angeles Mission College awards degrees to 300 graduating students.

Marin is the highest-ranking Latina in the Bush Administration. She is no stranger to Southern California, however. Prior to accepting the post of Treasurer, Marin served as mayor and councilwoman of Huntington Park. Her wide-ranging government experience also includes service with the state - as Deputy Director of the Governor's Office of Community Relations, and as Assistant Deputy Director of the California State Department of Social Services.

"Ms. Marin is a perfect speaker for our college," said Dr. Adriana Barrera, college president. "She got her start in a community college and is now at the highest level of government. She should be an inspirational speaker for our graduates."

Marin began her academic career at East Los Angeles College before graduating from California State University, Los Angeles. She is also a graduate of Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government Programs for Senior Executives in State and Local Government.

The treasury official will speak to a class that will include 320 graduates, 70 percent of them women. Two-thirds of the graduates are between the ages of 18 and 30, but a significant number - nearly 50 - are 41-years of age or older. The youngest graduate is 18; the oldest 70. The graduates are earning degrees in 22 different programs.

José Febré, an Addiction Studies major, is the class valedictorian. This year's salutatorian is Dawn Alger, a Liberal Arts major.

Commencement will begin at 5 p.m. on the campus Quad. About 1,200 people, including graduates, their friends and relatives, and other guests, are expected.

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