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# Governor Schwarzenegger to speak at SMC graduation
- URL: https://www.smdp.com/governor-schwarzenegger-to-speak-at-smc-graduation/
- Published: 2005-04-11T15:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-23T06:34:10.000Z
- Author: Ryan Hyatt
- Tags: Education, Santa Monica, #archive-import

*Governor’s budget proposal didn’t include community-college funding*

SMC — Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is scheduled to give the student commencement speech to 550 graduates here on June 14.

The event will mark the first time Gov. Schwarzenegger — who attended the community college from 1971 to 1974 — has been keynote speaker for an SMC graduation event, college officials said.

SMC vice president Randy Lawson said there are no set guidelines to determine who will be SMC’s commencement speaker, but several people in the administration keep an eye out for candidates throughout the school year. Lawson said Gov. Schwarzenegger was first approached to give a commencement speech when he took office in 2003\. This year, he agreed. However, the governor’s office has not officially confirmed that the speaking engagement is on his calendar.

“We thought he would make a good fit since he is the governor of the state who attended SMC,” Lawson said.

Past commencement speakers have included academics, journalists, alum and politicians; last year’s guest was U.S. Secretary of Transportation Norman Mineta, said SMC spokesperson Bruce Smith.

Gov. Schwarzenegger didn’t receive an associates degree while attending SMC, but he did take a variety of general education courses typical of freshman and sophomore university transfer students, Smith said.

Gov. Schwarzenegger received his business degree from the University of Wisconsin, according to a biographical profile. In addition to being a champion body builder and action-movie star, Gov. Schwarzenegger began paving his way as a businessman by purchasing real estate in Santa Monica. He’s also the brother-in-law of Santa Monica City Councilman Bobby Shriver.

Although Gov. Schwarzenegger is being criticized by educators across the state for cutting public education funding, Smith said the governor has helped the state’s community colleges, especially SMC. Schwarzenegger provided $80 million in equalization funds to community colleges throughout California during his first year in office. SMC officials said equalization funds are used to give community colleges money from inequities in funding that can be traced back to Proposition 13, a property-tax-cutting initiative passed in 1978\. Last year, SMC received $3.6 million from the equalization funds, the most a community college received in the state.

“We get the most because we are lowest-funded college in the state,” Smith said, adding the amount dispersed to SMC is based on a complicated formula established by the state government in the wake of Prop. 13.

The equalization funding was supposed to be doled out every year for three years. Although community colleges received the first installment, the $80 million was not included in the state budget for 2005-06 and is not included Schwarzenegger’s proposed budget, which was released in January.

“We’ll see if there have been any changes in the revised budget,” Lawson said. “We should know by this summer.”

Lawson said SMC’s overall enrollment, especially among international students, has enabled the college to sustain itself during the budget crisis.

“We do all we can to get state money available to (SMC),” Lawson said.

SMC board of trustees member Herb Roney said people need to keep in mind the context when addressing the governor’s invitation to SMC.

“People need to remember Gov. Schwarzenegger is a leader of this state who’s gone to Washington to lobby for more federal education funds,” Roney said. “Budget concerns have been facing the state since Davis’ administration.”

*Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on April 11, 2005.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/041105.pdf?ref=smdp.com)