More Than 2,300 Students Graduate From Chaffey College

Nearly 10,000 people including graduates, family members and friends filled Toyota Arena in Ontario on Thursday for the 2024 Chaffey College Commencement ceremony, marking the completion of academic programs for 2,300 students.

Chaffey College’s class of 2024 earned about 3,300 degrees and certificates. The class includes seven valedictorians and more 29 high school students graduating from Chaffey through the dual enrollment program.

“Whether you are going on to a four-year college or university or entering the workforce, you are taking your Chaffey education with you and making our communities and our world a better place,” said Chaffey College Superintendent/President Henry D. Shannon.

Reyna Grande, bestselling author of the 2012 book “The Distance Between Us” shared her story of crossing the U.S. border at 9-years-old, and the struggle to find self-confidence as a writer. With the encouragement of teachers and other mentors, she turned her struggle into a successful career.

“In some way, you are all storytellers yourselves. Aren’t you? You get to be the author of your own story – not your parents, not your teachers, not the voices on social media clamoring to shape your narrative,” she said.

The class of 2024’s cumulative GPA was 3.23, a slight increase from 2023. The oldest graduate is 78-year-old, while the youngest is 15.

Chaffey’s student speaker Alexis Yrigoyen, an anthropology major from Chino Hills, shared her story of struggling with bullying in high school, and how it affected her confidence as a college student. After attempting five previous times to earn a college degree, she finally finished what she started.

“Here I am on this stage today, standing before you as a college graduate,” she said. “And here you are! You know that voice in our head that says we can’t do it, that we aren’t smart? We defied that voice.”

Yrigoyen is transferring to Cal Poly Pomona to major in anthropology.