CHICAGO - Lt. Governor Sheila Simon will give the commencement address on Friday for the City Colleges of Chicago Class of 2013. Nearly 4,000 students are expected to earn an associate's degree this year - the largest number in more than 20 years.
Simon will highlight the accomplishments of seven graduates who overcame obstacles to earn associate degrees that link them to in-demand jobs or bachelor's degree programs. Her featured students include a teenage mother turned valedictorian, a high school dropout turned Field Museum biologist, and an undocumented immigrant who learned Braille and English en route to a degree.
"Just as the City College system is reinventing itself, its graduates are reinventing themselves and making a difference in our communities," Simon said.
In her first year in office, Simon visited each of the state's 48 community colleges in an effort to increase the proportion of adults with a college credential to 60 percent, up from the current 41 percent, by 2025.
DATE: Friday, May 3
TIME: 4 p.m.
PLACE: UIC Pavilion, 525 S. Racine Ave., Chicago
