By Darla Martin Tucker
Cari M. Dominguez, a Cuban immigrant who advanced through the ranks to lead the nation’s top job discrimination laws agency, will address La Sierra University’s graduates on June 15.

Dominguez served as the 12th chair and chief executive officer of the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission between 2001 and 2006. Following a Presidential nomination, the U.S. Senate unanimously confirmed Dominguez to the post on July 19, 2001. As leader of the five-member EEOC, she oversaw a budget of $325 million and 53 offices throughout the United States. The commission is the nation’s lead agency on all matters pertaining to the enforcement of civil rights employment acts.

Dominguez will be the featured speaker for La Sierra’s graduation ceremony, which begins at 8 a.m. on the university’s Founders’ Green. She will deliver an address titled “Ganas: Inspired Motivation.” Dominguez will also receive the first La Sierra University Presidential Medallion for extraordinary service to the people of the United States. The university will present medallions to individuals who demonstrate exceptional service to others and who uphold La Sierra’s ideals.

“Ms. Dominguez, in her work as chair of the EEOC as well as throughout her professional life, has exhibited commitment to serving others, particularly those most in need of representation. She is passionate about public service and is absolutely committed to the well-being of the nation,” said La Sierra University President Randal Wisbey.

Dominguez is currently a lecturer, consultant and corporate director of international employment services giant Manpower Inc. (NYSE: MAN) in Milwaukee, Wis. The 60-year-old, $21 billion company appointed Dominguez as a board director on May 2, 2007.

The position draws upon Dominguez’s extensive career in the employment services industry and in federal government. Prior to leading the EEOC, she served as assistant secretary for the Employment Standards Administration in the U.S. Department of Labor and as director of the standard administration’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs. In the latter capacity, she launched and led the Labor Department’s “Glass Ceiling Initiative” designed to remove workplace barriers affecting the advancement of individuals on the basis of race or gender.

Dominguez’s corporate background includes ownership of Dominguez & Associates, a Maryland consulting firm she established in 1999 that provided services on workplace issues for Fortune 500 companies. She also held partner and director positions at international executive search firms Heidrick & Struggles and Spencer Stuart. She served in senior human resources positions with Bank of America where she earned the CEO’s Eagle Award for functional excellence.

Her broad nonprofit involvement includes serving on the board of the Leadership Foundation of the International Women’s Forum and as a trustee of Loma Linda University Medical Center and Loma Linda University. Her awards and citations include a Doctor of Humanitarian Service honorary degree from Loma Linda University in 2003 and inclusion in Hispanic Business magazine’s lists of 100 Most Influential Hispanics and 80 Elite Hispanic Women.
La Sierra’s three-pronged mission statement and values include the aim of service, “contributing to the good of the global community.” Members of the premiere graduating class of a new, four-year degree program are heading for careers that embody such ideals.

Four students will earn Bachelor of Art degrees from La Sierra’s fledgling global studies program launched in 2005. It is offered through La Sierra’s Department of History, Politics and Society.

Global studies graduate Carolyn Ratzlaff received the 2006 Thomas R. Pickering Undergraduate Foreign Affairs Fellowship funded by the U.S. Department of State. She is interested in one day serving in war-torn Iraq, either with the State Department or U.S. Marine Corps. She ultimately aims to be an ambassador or a State Department undersecretary. Toward achieving such goals, she triple majored in global studies, political economy and management and minored in French.
“I liked the idea of the global studies major because it seemed to give me this broader view through the combination of history, foreign policy [and] class debates,” she said.

In September Ratzlaff will enter officer candidacy training with the Marine Corps in Quantico, Va. In fall of 2009, she plans to attend the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs at Syracuse University pursuing a master’s in international relations with a concentration in negotiation and conflict resolution. Ratzlaff, who participated on La Sierra’s Students In Free Enterprise team, represented the university the past two years at the U.S. Naval Academy’s Foreign Affairs Conference. She presented her senior thesis at one of the events. “I have definitely benefited from my time [at] LSU. I have had great academic opportunities,” Ratzlaff said.

Graduates Evelyn Moore, Debra Marovitch and Shiree Ocker will join Ratzlaff in receiving Bachelor of Arts in global studies. Moore is headed for Costa Rica this summer to work in an orphanage followed by a year of teaching English and Bible in Korea through the Seventh-day Adventist Language Institute. She is preparing for a career in international service. Ocker is contemplating a career in international health.

Marovitch is this year’s Outstanding Global Studies Major and recipient of the Dean’s Award from the College of Arts and Sciences. On May 27 she gave an honors scholarship project presentation on “The Workings of International Development: Grassroots Beginnings or Imported Implementation.” The presentation discussed approaches to international development based on Marovitch’s ecotourism internship last summer in Peru.
Marovitch will teach English in Mexico this summer and in China next school year. “I plan on going into the Peace Corps shortly thereafter, depending on what comes out of the China experience, and then eventually on to graduate school and beyond,” she said. Marovitch is planning a career in international development, possibly with Adventist Development and Relief Agency, the United Nations, Amnesty International or a similar organization, she said.

“One of the major attractions to La Sierra, other than the amount of scholarships I was offered to attend, was its diversity. I love being a part of the mix of cultures, experiences, religions and talents that we have here,” Marovitch said. “I also appreciate its high commitment to academic excellence and its open invitation to give me the tools necessary to examine my worldview and mature.”

Master’s of Business Administration/Human Resources Management graduate Deisy Ruiz will receive the President’s Award for Outstanding University Graduate Student. Ruiz was part of the Students In Free Enterprise presentation team during their World Cup win in New York City last October. She is also a founding member and president of the university’s Society for Human Resource Management chapter. The society officially recognized the chapter on June 3. Ruiz currently works in the city of Riverside’s mayor’s office as a senior office specialist where she assists the Riverside Mayor’s Commission on Aging.

“We have a La Sierra component to serve others,” Ruiz said. While students elsewhere tend to focus on the personal benefits of an educational career, at La Sierra, “its more of ‘what can I do for others.’ La Sierra has done a great job in portraying [those values],” she said.

History major Ashley N. Brodersen will receive this year’s President’s Award for Outstanding University Undergraduate Student. Her various scholarships and activities included a summer internship with San Bernardino County Deputy District Attorney Ron Webster. Brodersen is headed for law school at Chapman University.
Norco resident Amy Johnson will receive a Master of Arts in Teaching, or MAT degree and will teach eighth grade in the Moreno Valley Unified School District. She studied at La Sierra through its Digital Learning program and is the university’s only graduate to take all classes online. Johnson selected La Sierra largely through the recommendation of three friends who studied at the university and because she could take all courses over the Internet.
Johnson’s online studies at La Sierra “made me a better teacher,” she said. She acquired detailed paperwork and record-keeping skills in each class. “Everything was relevant to real life.” Johnson prefers one-on-one contact with teachers through e-mail exchanges rather than sitting in classrooms and blending in with large groups of students. She interacted with other students through a sort of online blogging board to which she uploaded homework and comments.

During commencement, La Sierra will recognize Professor of Physics Edwin A. Karlow who is retiring this year after 30 years at La Sierra. Karlow is this year’s recipient of the Distinguished Teaching Award and the Anees A. Haddad Faculty Award for Excellence in Advancing the Effectiveness of Faculty Governance.
Campus Pastor Samuel Leonor will receive the Jay J. Nethery Award for significant contributions to the ideals of La Sierra University and for providing excellent service to students.

The university will award an honorary Doctor of Humanitarian Service to Edward J. Schrillo, chairman of the board and chief executive officer of aerospace precision manufacturing firm The Schrillo Co. in North Hills. La Sierra will also bestow honorary Doctor of Laws and Doctor of Humanitarian Service degrees to Thomas M. and Violet J. Zapara.

Schrillo attended La Sierra Academy. La Sierra’s Harry Schrillo Scholarship is named for Edward Schrillo’s late brother. The Zaparas are La Sierra alumni who have provided leadership and significant contributions to Seventh-day Adventist education, including to various La Sierra facilities and initiatives.

PR Contact: Larry Becker
Executive Director of University Relations
La Sierra University
Riverside, California
951.785.2460 (voice)