News Release| Honors Convocation; Cal State L.A.
Note to editors: See calendar listing below. For Noelia RodrÃguez’s complete biography, go to http://www.iop.harvard.edu/Programs/Fellows-Study-Groups/Former-Fellows/Noelia_Rodr%C3%ADguez.
Cal State L.A. to honor 4,700 high-achieving students
JFK Jr. Forum director to keynote
CSULA’s 51st annual Honors Convocation
Los Angeles, CA – Noelia Rodríguez, director of the John F. Kennedy Jr. Forum at Harvard University’s Institute of Politics, will return to her alma mater Friday, April 27, to deliver the keynote at Cal State L.A.’s 51st annual Honors Convocation.
The celebratory event will acknowledge the stellar academic achievements of more than 4,700 students, including those on the Dean’s Lists. The ceremony begins at 7 p.m. in the Eagles Nest Gymnasium.
Rodríguez—who earned her bachelor’s degree in business administration from Cal State L.A., and her master’s degree in communications from the University of La Verne—is an accomplished executive with extensive experience in strategic and crisis communications, media and public relations, public affairs, and management in the private and public sectors, including at The White House.
Since 2008, RodrÃguez has served as the director of the Forum, Harvard’s premier venue for political speech, debate and major addresses by world leaders, heads of state and elected officials. Prior to Harvard, she was director of communications for the City of Irvine and vice president of corporate communications for Univision Communications, Inc.
In January 2001, she was recruited by Laura Bush to be her press secretary and director of communications at The White House, a post she held for the first 1,000 days of President George W. Bush’s administration. Ultimately, RodrÃguez was Mrs. Bush’s longest serving White House press secretary. As the first lady’s senior communications advisor, she traveled around the world with the former President and Mrs. Bush, spanning 30 countries and five continents.
With formal pageantry, Friday’s special program will recognize Cal State L.A. students whose academic records place them in the upper fifth percentile of their peers. Dean’s List honorees, recipients of scholarships and grants, and general education honors program participants will also be acknowledged. More than 360 new freshmen will be recognized for bringing to the University a 3.5 grade-point-average (or higher) on their high school records. In 2011, more than 1,200 Cal State L.A. students received scholarships supported by donors and grants from outside agencies.
For further details on the University Honors Convocation, call the Cal State L.A. Academic Affairs office at (323) 343-3808.
CALENDAR LISTING:
What: 51st Honors Convocation at Cal State L.A., a tradition
highlighting student achievements.
When: Friday, April 27, 7 p.m.
Where: Eagles Nest Gymnasium on the CSULA campus. For campus
map, parking information or directions, go to
/univ/maps/cslamap.php.
Info: For event details, call the Academic Affairs office at
Cal State L.A., (323) 343-3808.
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Working for California since 1947: The 175-acre hilltop campus of California State University, Los Angeles is at the heart of a major metropolitan city, just five miles from Los Angeles’ civic and cultural center. More than 20,000 students and 220,000 alumni—with a wide variety of interests, ages and backgrounds—reflect the city’s dynamic mix of populations. Six Colleges offer nationally recognized science, arts, business, criminal justice, engineering, nursing, education and humanities programs, among others, led by an award-winning faculty. Cal State L.A. is home to the critically-acclaimed Luckman Jazz Orchestra and to the Honors College for high-achieving students. Programs that provide exciting enrichment opportunities to students and community include an NEH-supported humanities center; a NASA-funded center for space research; and a growing forensic science program, housed in the Hertzberg-Davis Forensic Science Center. www.calstatela.edu
