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With their professors looking on in pride, students from the School of Business and Public Administration (SBPA) received their prestigious hoods at a ceremony held at the Westin Resort Guam on May 20.

Surrounded by family and friends, 31 graduates from the Professional Master of Business Administration (PMBA) and Master of Public Administration (MPA) programs sat at the front of the room as one by one, they were hooded by Interim Dean Annette Santos, Senior Vice President of Academic and Student Affairs Dr. Anita Borja Enriquez and SBPA faculty Dr. Kari Perez and Dr. John Rivera.

Santos said that commencement is her favorite time of year because it celebrates the tremendous achievements of the students.

“Graduation is always exciting,” she said. “We’re very fortunate to be able to have a large number of graduates this semester both PMBA and MPA. It really is the time that we get to celebrate all the hard work, the investment of time, the tears, the struggles but also the joys of achieving a goal that they’ve set. 

Santos said students that have graduated from the MPA and PMBA degree programs have gone on to start their own businesses, have been promoted at their current place of employment, and work for the federal government.

“They’re onto bigger and better things after graduation,” she said. “So that’s what adds value and meaning to the degrees that we offer. That’s why we celebrate.”

Jesse Quenga, master of public administration graduate, said finishing the program was a great accomplishment because it wasn’t something he had originally intended on pursuing. He and with twin brother Anthony Quenga, also a master of public administration graduate, won the overall outstanding scholar for the master of public administration and academic excellence awards.

“We weren’t really looking for rewards,” Jesse Quenga said. “We were just looking to get an education and what better place than the University.”

Toward the end of the ceremony, the class of 2015 presented the School of Business and Public Administration faculty with a gift of a stained glass latte stone, with the University of Guam’s “G” in the middle.

“The school and the university as a whole have done so much for us and has provided us this opportunity to do great things,” said Anthony Quenga. “And as a small honorarium to them, we thought it would be a nice token to show them something that represents our cohort and what they’ve done for us.”