Commencement 2024

We look forward to hosting you, along with your friends and family guests, on Saturday, May 25, 2024, for Pacifica’s 2024 Commencement ceremony at the Hilton Beachfront Resort in Santa Barbara, CA (633 E. Cabrillo Blvd, Santa Barbara, CA 93103). The Commencement Ceremony will begin at 10:30am, with a Champagne reception immediately following in the courtyard area of the hotel.

On behalf of the Commencement planning team, we would like to congratulate you all on this momentous milestone! We have appreciated being part of your journey at Pacifica and appreciate the hard work and dedication that got you here. We also commend you on your steadfastness as we navigated through the uncertainties and challenges of the last few years. May the heart and soul of Pacifica carry through to the next chapter of your life and into the work that you will be doing out in the world.

Graduates, please plan to arrive at the Hilton between 8:30 and 9:30am for gowning. There will be continental breakfast options such as fresh pastries, bagels and donuts, as well as coffee, tea, and juice available for graduates to enjoy prior to the ceremony. Parking is open and free at the hotel, but please allow time to find a parking space as it is a busy area and a holiday weekend. When arriving, graduates will enter the lobby from the main parking lot and head directly to the Santa Rosa room where you will check-in and receive your name card and your gown. Staff will be there to greet you and help point you in the right direction. At 10am, graduates will be instructed to line up in the hallway next to the Grand Ballroom in order according to the designation on your name card, staff will be present to assist. The ceremony will begin at 10:30am, with the graduates entering the Grand Ballroom in formation.

Guests may enter the hotel directly through the side doors next to the Grand Ballroom. The doors to the ballroom will be opened at approximately 9:45am for guests to be seated.

Following the conclusion of the ceremony, diplomas will be sorted by last name and distributed at tables outside of the ballroom. There will also be a photo op area directly outside, across from the ballroom. Please return gowns back to the Santa Rosa room prior to making your way to the reception, which will be held from approximately 12:30-2pm. Champagne and sparkling cider will be served for those whom wish to join.

A more detailed email with additional logistical and operational details, including livestream information, will be sent a couple of days before the ceremony and updated on this website.

Pacifica’s 2024 Commencement Speaker – Leigh J McCloskey: Artist, Author, Actor & Visual Philosopher

Leigh J McCloskey is a modern Renaissance Man. He is an artist, author, actor, and visual philosopher. He has deeply explored the archetypal and hidden aspects of the psyche through his visual art works, writing, and his experiences as a professional actor in theatre, film, and television. He has hosted weekly philosophical readings and discussion groups in his home, Olandar, for over 43 years. He combines a thorough knowledge of arcane wisdom, symbolism, depth psychology, ancient hermetic alchemical science and its relationship with emerging sciences. He is the founder of Olandar Foundation for Emerging Renaissance (OFFER) and his goal is to seed imaginative and creative renewal within the ever-evolving story of psyche & soul and the artistry of human consciousness.

Leigh lectures both nationally and internationally and has given numerous talks and presentations of his art and visual philosophy. He has authored, and illustrated seven books, and contributed numerous essays on topics ranging from William Blake and the Heroic Imagination, the Archetypal Tarot & the Kabbalah, to Jacob Boehme and Theosophical Thought. Leigh has enjoyed a professional acting career spanning five decades. He is a well-known actor who starred in many television shows and movies including, Dario Argento’s Inferno, playing Mitch Cooper on the television phenomenon, Dallas, and starred as a regular on a number a daytime dramas such as General Hospital, Santa Barbara and The Young & Restless. He recently completed work on the sci-fi, noir film, Dresden Sun and will be on upcoming episodes of The Bay.

Links to Leigh McCloskey’s work:

Books, including

• Tarot ReVisioned,
• Adam Reborn & Eve Restored,
• Codex Tor,
• Cosmogramma, and
• Grimore: Book of Magic Spells

May be found at https://leighmccloskey.com/Books.html

Art

May be found at https://leighmccloskey.com/Art.html

With a Public Solo Art Exhibition at the Malibu City Gallery [4-24-24 to 5-3-24] – Malibu Times review

Videos

• Short film: Aquarian Realization
• Art the Creative Spirit with Leigh J McCloskey
• Short film: Cave of Remembered Dreams: The Hieroglyph of the Human Soul, by Bryan Single
• TEDx Talk, “The Painting Phoenix Arise & The Blossoming of Creation”
• The Feminine Divine and The Art of Creation – Painted Revelations of Wonder and Meaning

See more at: www.leighmccloskey.com

• April 3 Deadline to scan and email your completed Commencement and Diploma Order Form to Rob Case, Registrar Coordinator, at rcase@pacifica.edu
  (For students participating in the commencement ceremony, forms received after the deadline will be subject to a $25 late fee for expedited shipping of regalia. Students responding after April 19 will not be eligible to participate in the ceremony, since regalia orders cannot be fulfilled after this date.)
• May 3 Ph.D./Psy.D. candidates: to participate in the ceremony, your dissertation oral defense must be completed by this date. (Once you upload your final edited manuscript and submit processing forms, please keep in mind that time will be needed to set up your oral defense.)
• May 6 To participate in the ceremony, documentation that all MA, PhD, or PsyD. degree requirements have been satisfied must be received by the Registrar’s Office no later than May 6th. These include all final course grades, outstanding Incomplete, Tutorial and Independent Study grades, documentation that any required exams, applicable internship, personal therapy, depth transformative hours, self-directed studies and dissertation oral defense have been successfully completed.
• May 20 All financial obligations must be satisfied by this date.
• May 25 10:30 am – Commencement ceremony at the Hilton Santa Barbara Beachfront Resort at 633 E. Cabrillo Blvd. Santa Barbara, CA 93103. (805) 564-4333

3rd Session 2024 Winter Qtr
The following must be submitted by third session of Winter quarter
(i.e., TrackC – 3/10, TrackW – 3/13, Track D – 3/17, Track V – 3/24):

1. All winter quarter coursework must be submitted to your instructors;
2. All online/hybrid coursework must be submitted no later than the due dates
   noted on all course syllabi and
3. Electronic thesis (and optional bound copy) must be submitted to your Research Associate

Note: students who wish to participate in the 2024 commencement ceremony may
not take Incompletes for winter quarter courses.

• March 15 All required practicum documentation, including personal therapy must be received.
• April 3 Deadline to scan and email your completed Commencement and Diploma Order Form to Rob Case, Registrar Coordinator, at rcase@pacifica.edu
  (For students participating in the commencement ceremony, forms received after the deadline will be subject to a $25 late fee for expedited shipping of regalia. Students responding after April 19 will not be eligible to participate in the ceremony, since regalia orders cannot be fulfilled after this date.)
• April 20 The Registrar’s Office must have documentation that all degree requirements have been satisfied (i.e., all final grades and all outstanding Incomplete, Tutorial and Independent Study grades must be received in the Registrar’s Office by this date).
• May 20 All financial obligations must be satisfied by this date.
• May 24 Thesis Presentation Day for all MA Counseling graduates and their guests on the Ladera Campus. Additional information about the event will be provided by the Counseling program in the coming weeks.
• May 25 10:30 a.m. – Commencement ceremony for all graduates at the Hilton Santa Barbara Beachfront Resort at 633 E. Cabrillo Blvd. Santa Barbara, CA 93103. (805) 564-4333

A photo gallery from the day, including links to download, can be found here: PHOTO GALLERY from Pacifica’s 2024 Commencement

The video of the ceremony can be viewed here: Pacifica Graduate Institute 2024 Commencement Ceremony Video