College of Eastern Idaho to hold commencement at the Mountain America Center
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The following is a news release from the College of Eastern Idaho:
IDAHO FALLS — College of Eastern Idaho (CEI) will hold its 2023 Commencement the evening of Tuesday, May 9, in the Hero Arena at the Mountain America Center thanks to the generous financial support of Mountain View and Idaho Falls Community Hospitals.
For the first time in several years, CEI will be able to celebrate all of its graduates in one, unified ceremony with the large event space that the Mountain America Center now affords the area. Additionally, CEI Nurse Pinning will be held at the same venue earlier in the day.
More than 400 awards – 296 associate degrees and 119 certificates – will be issued at the 2023 Commencement, an increase of 95 percent since CEI’s first commencement as a comprehensive community college in 2018. The most popular field of study for the class of 2023 was General Education (36 percent of the graduates) followed by Health and Human Services (35 percent) and Career Technical Education (29 percent).
Roughly one-third (34 percent) of the graduates are in the first generation in their family to complete a college degree. And an impressive 28 graduates completed their associate degree through CEI’s Early College program, meaning that they earned a college diploma while still enrolled in high school.
“Graduating from CEI is no small feat and I commend all our graduates for their hard work, dedication, and perseverance, said Rick Aman, CEI President. “The degrees and certificates they just earned will open opportunities previously unavailable to them, helping them secure family-wage jobs and helping our area businesses hire local, qualified employees.”
As a comprehensive community college, CEI educates a wide range of students. Overall, 45 percent of this year’s graduating class are considered “non-traditional,” or at least 25 years old, while 55 percent are younger than 25.
Mirroring national trends in higher education, 58 percent of CEI’s 2023 graduates are female and 42 percent are male. And, similar to the makeup of eastern Idaho, 18 percent of this year’s graduates are Hispanic/Latino; 75 percent are white; and seven percent are of other backgrounds, including American Indian, Asian and Black/African American.
The Honorable Gregory Moeller, an associate justice on the Idaho Supreme Court, will deliver the commencement address to CEI’s class of 2023. Justice Moeller graduated from South Fremont High School (St. Anthony) in 1981. He graduated magna cum laude from BYU in 1987, earning a bachelor’s degree in political science. He then attended the J. Reuben Clark Law School at BYU, where he received his juris doctor degree in 1990 and was admitted to the Idaho State Bar that same year.
Immediately following law school, Justice Moeller began working for the Rexburg law firm of Rigby, Andrus & Moeller, where he became a partner in 1994. After 19 years in private practice, Justice Moeller was appointed as district judge by Idaho Governor C. L. “Butch” Otter on April 2, 2009. On November 30, 2018, Moeller was appointed by Governor Otter to serve on the Idaho Supreme Court.
Moeller is a frequent speaker on various legal topics across the state and has spoken at national conferences. Prior to joining the Supreme Court, he served as a judicial representative on the Idaho Criminal Justice Commission and on the Region 7 Behavioral Health Board. In 2015, he received the Professionalism Award from the Eagle Rock Inns of Court, and in 2016 was named Public Servant of the Year by the Rexburg Area Chamber of Commerce