CMC hosts first graduation with family attending

November 19, 2024

Incarcerated students at California Men’s Colony (CMC) celebrated a milestone as their family members attended the graduation.

This was the first time CMC hosted family members at a graduation ceremony.

By the numbers:

24 Rising Scholars students from Cuesta College earned Associate of Arts degrees
Three students earned high school diplomas
19 earned GEDs
two others earned certificates of attendance and participation.

“Each of you has shown not only academic achievement but also tremendous courage, resilience, and strength. Your hard work has paid off. Today you stand as graduates, an accomplishment no one can take away from you,” said CMC Warden Danny Samuel.

Graduation ceremony with family members attending at CMC in San Luis Obispo.

Some graduates were not present at the ceremony due to being paroled or transferred.

Mozell Pearson, Dean of Instruction for Applied Behavioral Sciences, Social Sciences, Business Education, and Agriculture, spoke about choosing education.

“I want you to remember the wise words of the Lion King’s Rafiki: ‘The past can hurt but the way I see it you can either run from it or learn from it.’ Clearly, you chose to learn,” Pearson said.

Coleman represents his class at CMC graduation

Coleman, an incarcerated graduate, was selected to speak during the ceremony. — Roderick Lynn Coleman was selected to speak during the graduation.

Roderick Lynn Coleman, a Rising Scholars student and now Cuesta College graduate, was asked to represent his class as a speaker at the graduation.

“To my fellow graduates, it is important to remember the endurance it took to get to this moment of achievement. You should feel a sense of pride and (also) feel motivated to continue on the road to higher education.”

Coleman earned several associate degrees, including:

Liberal Arts: Social & Behavioral Sciences
Liberal Arts: Arts & Humanities
Transfer, Sociology

He also received the following certificates of achievement:

California State University – General Education Breadth
Intersegmental General Education Transfer

“I challenge each graduate in attendance to reach back and pull somebody else up with you onto the ladder of higher learning,” said Coleman.

Formerly incarcerated student returns to offer encouragement

Luis Venegas, who was incarcerated at CMC West Facility five years ago, returned to speak to the graduates.

(Read a previously published story about Venegas.)

As a former Rising Scholars student, he was invited back as the ceremony’s keynote speaker.

Speaking with KSBY News, he said, “I truly enjoyed my experience with education and college there. I’ve been able to use a lot of those skills as I’ve gotten out.”

Learn more about the Rising Scholars program with Cuesta College.

Story by Ashton Harris, information officer
Office of Public and Employee Communications