Congratulations Candidates!
First off, please accept our warmest and sincerest congratulations for making it to this point of your academic career. You should be proud of yourself for this accomplishment and everyone here at Metro is proud of you as well.
Commencement is a special occasion and should be a memorable ceremony. Our faculty, staff, and administrators have planned the program and arrangements with every consideration to make this an impressive and enjoyable event for everyone involved.
Keep checking in here because the College will use this website to communicate information to graduation candidates and the public regarding the Spring 2008 Commencement. Candidates should monitor MetroConnect, and their MetroConnect email, for commencement messages throughout the semester.
Again, please accept our congratulations! There is no doubt that this is an exciting time of the year for you, your families, faculty, administrators and alumni that are celebrating this grad accomplishment with you. There is no better time than during commencement to see that it is great to be a Roadrunner!
Spring 2008 Commencement Ceremony
Spring 2008 Commencement will be held on Sunday, May 18, 2008, 2:00pm at the Colorado Convention Center. Please be sure to allow time for added traffic due to the commencement ceremony.
Remember that the doors will be closed promptly at 2:00 p.m. for approximately 20 minutes to allow for the graduate processional. Planning ahead will make this a great day for all!!more event information…
Speaker
Lieutenant Governor Barbara O’Brien
Lt. Gov. Barbara O’Brien was elected in November 2006 as the running mate of Gov. Bill Ritter.
As Colorado’s 47th lieutenant governor, O’Brien is actively involved in education, health and wellness, and aerospace issues. She serves as co-chair of the Governor’s P-20 Education Council, which oversees education reform and innovation from preschool to postsecondary education. In addition, she is working with the Metro Denver Health and Wellness Commission and LiveWell Colorado, a public-private partnership to encourage small steps toward healthier habits in schools, workplaces and communities.
Lt. Gov. O’Brien also co-chairs the Colorado Space Coalition, a group of business, government and military representatives who support and promote Colorado’s aerospace industry, the second largest in the country. In this capacity, O’Brien actively promotes science, technology, engineering and math education to prepare Colorado’s next generation of aerospace workers. She also currently chairs the Education Committee for the Aerospace States Association.
A longtime advocate for young children and teens, O’Brien has a history of creating and implementing innovative policy initiatives in both health and education. From 1990 until 2006, she served as president of the Colorado Children’s Campaign, a statewide public policy and advocacy nonprofit organization. Under her leadership, the campaign produced major policy initiatives that increased funding for schools, expanded early childhood education, increased access to health care for uninsured children, reduced teen smoking and expanded after-school programs. She co-chaired the Amendment 35 (tobacco tax increase) campaign committee and was a leader in the effort to get Amendment 23 (K-12 school funding) approved.
In addition to the Colorado Children’s Campaign, O’Brien has served on the Mayor's Leadership Team on Early Education, the Governor's Commission on Children and Families, the National Kids County Steering Committee and the Tony Grampsas Youth Services Fund. She also founded and co-chaired the Kids Caucus, a bi-partisan group of state legislators committed to supporting policies that benefit children.
O’Brien was a policy advisor and speechwriter for Gov. Richard Lamm in the 1980s. She also has significant experience in higher education, having served as the University of Colorado Denver’s director of campus affairs and executive director at its Institute for International Business.
O’Brien earned her bachelor’s degree from the University of California at Los Angeles and her doctorate from Columbia University.