EVERETT — Washington State University marked another milestone Sunday when it held its first commencement exercises for the North Puget Sound campus in Everett.
Until now, graduates wanting to walk in cap and gown had to go to the main campus in Pullman.
In welcoming the students, interim president Dan Bernardo credited the late Elson S. Floyd Jr. for making this possible.
“This vision was one that he had in bringing WSU to Everett,” Bernardo said. “Obviously he’s no longer with us, but he’s certainly here in spirit. “
At the Future of Flight Aviation Center on Sunday, 64 students were awarded bachelor’s degrees in one of four programs: hospitality business management, integrated strategic communication, electrical engineering, and mechanical engineering.
With Alaska Airlines’ Cougar-flagged Bombardier Q-400 parked outside the window as a backdrop, Dean Paul Pitre said the success of the students will be reflected in the greater success of the community.
“We already have graduates working in local industries,” Pitre said.
Most of the students transferred from Everett or Edmonds community colleges or Skagit College after two years, said school spokesman Randy Bolerjack.
One of those, Christina Marie Cooper, exemplifies the kind of student hoped for when the Legislature created the campus in 2011: people from North Puget Sound who either returned to school later in life, or transferred in from a community college program.
Cooper, a married mother of three daughters, had an associate’s degree in fashion merchandising from Miami International University of Art &Design and came to the Puget Sound region in 2007 when her husband got a job in the aviation industry.
Cooper was selected as the student speaker for the commencement exercises.
She told her fellow graduates that when she first enrolled she was afraid, but quickly found a new home among the students and faculty of WSU. “On this day, struggle has been transformed into triumph,” she said.
Washington State University began offering classes on Everett Community College’s campus in 2011. In 2014, the school took over the management of the Everett University Center consortium.
Last September, construction began on a new four-story 95,000-square-foot building on North Broadway that will become the home of WSU-North Puget Sound and University Center. The $54.6 million structure is scheduled to open by the start of the fall quarter of 2017.
Cooper initially intended to enroll at the University of Washington-Bothell, but the available classes never synced up with her work schedule.
She enrolled at Everett Community College, and like many of her fellow graduates, transferred after two years to WSU-North Puget Sound to finish her degree in integrated strategic communication.
“This is the first class graduating from this campus, so this is a really historic moment for sure,” Cooper said.
Graduating feels surreal she said, as well as bittersweet now that she’s leaving a community of like-minded people.
“The thing for me, when you can find your people… you just are mixed with these different kinds of people. Those other people helped transform you, so you don’t have that consistency, that structure any more, and you’ll miss it,” she said.
Chris Winters: 425-374-4165; cwinters@heraldnet.com. Twitter: @Chris_At_Herald.
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