Commencement Speaker

Louis Tang
Class of 2023 Student Speaker

Louis Tang began attending Cañada College during the Fall 2021 semester. Prior to Cañada College, he attended a school where he faced discrimination because of his mental disability—high-functioning autism. For most of his life, Louis knew that he wanted to be an animator and a freelance artist. When he arrived at Cañada College, he had not planned on becoming involved in campus activities, including Student Senate. However, when he was hired to work as a Student Intern at Cañada College’s Center for Student Life and Leadership Development in the Spring 2022 semester, he was provided with numerous positive experiences and opportunities for growth in his art career, activism, leadership, and personal life. Louis joined the Associated Students of Cañada College (ASCC)’s Student Senate as the Commissioner of Design and Marketing for the 2022-23 school year. During his time in the Student Senate, he pushed for a student-led Disability Awareness Panel event, the first in at least a decade. He also started a Disability & Mental Health Initiative with the intent to make a positive impact on future students at Cañada College by providing a platform to understand an unseen community. Because of his extracurricular involvement at Cañada, he was encouraged to reach his dream of being a motivational speaker in hopes that he can change the world and make a difference with his message of inclusion. Louis will be transferring to California State University, Fullerton to study Entertainment Art in the Fall 2023 semester. Louis would like to give a big shout out to everyone in his life who has supported him to get to this milestone and helped him to become the confident young man and leader that he is today!