California Commencement July 19

UNION INSTITUTE & UNVERSITY JULY 19 COMMENCEMENT TO HONOR GRADUATES FROM ACROSS CALIFORNIA

Dr. Hanmin Liu, president of San Francisco-based Wildflowers to deliver keynote;
fallen officer to receive posthumous degree

SACRAMENTO, CA – Learners from across California will converge at the Lionsgate Garden Pavilion July 19, in McClellan, CA, to participate in Union Institute & University’s California Commencement. The new graduates, ages 24-63, are learners from UI&U’s Los Angeles and Sacramento Centers who have earned undergraduate or graduate degrees from the private, non-profit university that provides higher education opportunities for adult learners.

Dr. Hanmin Liu will deliver a keynote address that focuses on living a life dedicated to service and community activism. His Francisco-based Wildflowers Institute, an organization he founded in 1997, believes the best way to address social problems is to help communities identify and leverage existing social and cultural assets to empower the community to take ownership of a direction and a culture that are aligned with its economy.

Dr. Liu, a UI&U Board of Trustee member, is himself a graduate of UI&U, having earned his Ph.D. from the university in 1978. He is also a former admissions counselor, who brought an innovative approach to his work as Union recruited learners on the West Coast. “Union gave me the space fundamental in the development of my life as a social activist,” said Dr. Liu. “I’m very grateful for this. It is still a platform that I grow from and it really exemplified the work I’m doing now.”

The university will also bestow a posthumous degree to the family of fallen Oakland Police Officer Mark Dunakin. Officer Dunakin was just a few months away from earning his bachelor’s degree in criminal justice management from UI&U’s Sacramento Center when he and three fellow officers were fatally shot in the line of duty in March. His degree will be presented to the Dunakin family by UI&U President Dr. Roger H. Sublett.

“Sergeant Dunakin is an inspiration to the entire Union community by living Union’s mission to give back to the community in a life of service,” said Dr. Sublett. “We are honored to celebrate his life and his graduation alongside his family and fellow learners.”

UI&U, a private, non-profit university that provides higher education opportunities for adults, is headquartered in Cincinnati, and has centers in Vermont and Miami, as well as Sacramento and Los Angeles. The July 19 commencement will take place at 11 a.m., at the Lionsgate Garden Pavilion, 3410 Westover St., McClellan.

For more information contact Tahlya Cox at Tahlya.cox@myunionedu or at 800.486.7049.