Mom says graduation makes all sacrifice worthwhile

Tuesday, Sept. 20, 2005 | 9:41 a.m.

Nevada State College nursing student Gabriela Begne will be the first person in her family to earn a bachelor's degree.

It's an accomplishment that involved many sacrifices and time away from her children, Begne, a 32-year-old single mother, said, but she believes the degree and her new career was worth that price.

As she balanced work and school and family, one of her main motivators was the image of her children seeing her cross the stage and pick up her diploma.

But that's a sight her children won't get to see, Begne said, because college officials have decided a December graduation isn't worth the time or expense.

When college officials told her that, "Everything for me just crumbled, because I had worked so hard," Begne said.

Working out of a renovated vitamin factory in Henderson, the college has no facilities of its own for graduation, spokesman Spencer Stewart said, and officials would have to rent a venue in addition to paying for caps and gowns, printing costs of the programs, a reception and other assorted activity costs.

College officials also were concerned about the cost of staff time involved in planning a graduation.

"To have two commencements a year just doesn't make sense," Stewart said.

One of Stewart's many jobs at the institution has been to oversee the past three graduations, including the first in May 2004 with the inaugural class of 13 students, one in December 2004 with only six students and the May 2005 graduation with 85 students and the first batch of nurses.

Begne is one of 61 students who have applied to graduate this December, one of 32 in nursing.

Nevada System of Higher Education and college officials have always celebrated the graduations as visible mile markers to the college's progress.

The past fanfare has made this year's "cost-effective" decision an even bigger blow to students like Begne, who took a chance on the start-up college as the 248th student to enroll.

To even be graduating is a "dream come true," Begne said, who will finish her four-year degree in three years, and to not be able to walk across the stage with her own class has tainted what has otherwise been a "wonderful" educational experience at the college.

State college officials are working with UNLV to allow their students to graduate with the university students in December, Stewart said, but the college's soon-to-be graduates said that's even worse.

"It's (graduation) recognizing the fact of how hard we've worked and reaching that particular goal," said fellow nursing student and December graduate Katrina Lewis, a 35-year-old working mother of two. "The fact that we have to walk a line with our rival is kind of demeaning."

Begne and Lewis, part of a larger group of students upset about the college's decision, said they also don't like the college's second solution, which is for them to walk in May after they've already been working for six months.

The nursing students will receive a special pinning ceremony in accordance with the traditions of the profession, students said, but they are willing to help raise money or contribute to the costs to have a graduation ceremony too.

Stewart acknowledged that several students "were disgruntled" and that the December 2004 graduate set a precedent for students to expect.

"I hope this is not coming off that this is from a bottom-line perspective," Stewart said, adding that he would talk to the graduates again.

"Certainly we want to get a workable solution for all involved."

Regent Mark Alden, whose district encompasses the state college, said he supported the college's decision to not have a December graduation. When he finished his degree from UNR in summer 1971, he personally had to wait until May 1972 to graduate because the Reno university only had one commencement a year.

"I understand their pain but there's limited resources," Alden said.