Story and Photos by Camas Frank ~
According to the University, nearly 1,000 students were eligible to graduate in ceremonies held in the ASI Recreation Center, i.e. gym, on Dec. 12.
While a little less well attended or photogenic as the stadium packing events held over two days in June, the gathering offers a far more intimate series of speakers with students from each college seated merely a few feet away from Cal Poly University President Jeffery Armstrong on the main stage.
It was Cal Poly’s 33rd fall commencement, taking some pressure off the main annual event, with three ceremonies spreading graduates from the various disciplines throughout the day.
Graduate candidates from the College of Liberal Arts and the Orfalea College of Business are shown being honored here at the 1 p.m. ceremony, which not coincidentally, offered the best sun light streaming through the frosted glass windows of the indoor venue.
The commencement speaker was Bruce Flohr, a 1998 journalism graduate whose career resume boasts signing the Dave Matthews Band and Foo Fighters to recording contracts.
Flohr floored the audience, with parents and attendees praising his energy and message. Among what he called the “many regrets of his life,” he only shared one; that it took him so long to reconnect with the San Luis Obispo and Cal Poly community after flying the coup in 1998.
