COM Will Hold its 85th Commencement on May 26

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Cathy Summa-Wolfe, Director
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415-485-9528

COM Will Hold its 85th Commencement on May 26

Dr. Sergio Aguilar-Gaxiola, M.D., Ph.D. will be Commencement Speaker

Kentfield, CA—May 21, 2012—COM’s 85th Commencement will take place on Saturday, May 26, at 10 a.m. in the Irwin P. Diamond Physical Education Center Gymnasium, 700 College Ave., Kentfield. Of the approximately 321 students receiving degrees and certificates this year, about 120 students will participate in the formal ceremony. The youngest graduate is 16 and the oldest graduate is 72 years old. College of Marin will be awarding 187 associate in arts degrees, 93 associate in science degrees and 79 certificates. Some students have earned more than one of the above.

The Commencement ceremony will open with an address from Academic Senate President Sara McKinnon. Superintendent/President David Wain Coon, Ed. D. will welcome the graduating class. Special Assistant to the Superintendent/President Angelina Duarte will introduce the student speaker, Kim Burl. President of the Board of Trustees Diana Conti will introduce the commencement speaker, Dr. Sergio Aguilar-Gaxiola, M.D., Ph.D. Duarte will present the graduating class and Dr. Coon will confer the degrees and certificates. The ceremony will close with an address by McKinnon.

Student speaker Kim Burl was born and raised in San Francisco, California and graduated from high school in 1983 from Abraham Lincoln High School. In 1984 she started working at UCSF Medical Center. She began working towards a degree in criminal justice at Contra Costa College, and then transferred to College of Marin where she received her Certificate of Completion in Administration of Justice. Burl is transferring to Cal State University East Bay to complete her education and plans to become a juvenile probation officer.
Commencement speaker Dr. Aguilar-Gaxiola is an internationally renowned expert on mental health in ethnic populations. As on-site principal investigator of the Mexican American Prevalence and Services Survey—the largest mental health study conducted in the United States on Mexican Americans—he identified the most prevalent mental health disorders in the Mexican-origin population in California's central valley; showed that the rate of disorders increases the longer the individual resides in the United States; and demonstrated that children of immigrants have even greater rates of mental disorders. From this study, he developed a model of service delivery that increased access to mental health services among the Central Valley's low-income, underserved, rural populations.

Dr. Aguilar-Gaxiola conducts cross-national epidemiologic studies on the patterns and correlates of psychiatric disorders in general population samples. He is the coordinator for Latin America and the Caribbean of the World Health Organization's Mental Health Survey, and coordinates the work of the National Mental Health Institute surveys in Mexico, Columbia, Brazil, Peru, Costa Rica and Portugal. He also develops culturally and linguistically sensitive diagnostic mental health measures, and translates mental health research into practical information for consumers and their families, health professionals, service administrators and policy makers.

About College of Marin
College of Marin has been providing exceptional educational opportunities for students of all ages since fall 1926. The college administration is located in Kentfield, CA. The college also operates the Indian Valley Campus in Novato, CA. College of Marin is accredited by the Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges of the Western Association of Schools and Colleges.

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College of Marin is one of 112 public community colleges in California and is fully accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges. Approximately 10,000 credit and noncredit students enroll each fall and spring semester. Classes also are offered during the summer.

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