Alumni association formed at Moorpark College
By Kyle Jorrey

More than 400,000 students have attended Moorpark College since it first opened in 1967. Now, three graduates want to encourage other former classmates to support the school through the newly formed Moorpark College Alumni Association.

The organization will provide an outlet for graduates who want to give back to the school and its students, especially those who feel strongly about the impact the college has made on their lives.

The association is the dream of three former student body presidents-Mike Madrid, Dan Peate and Glen Becerra-and one college employee, Sharon Miler, who felt the creation of such an organization was long overdue.

"We've been talking about this for a couple years now, and we wanted to get some tangible results," said Madrid. "We wanted something for anyone who's attended Moorpark College and is interested in benefiting others so they can have the experience of going to school."

To get started, the trio first went to the office of the campus public relations director, Jeanne Brown. Their enthusiasm and approach left Brown little choice but to give her support.

"They really surprise attacked me one day in my office," said Brown, public information director for the Moorpark College Foundation, which will oversee the alumni association. "They said, 'This is what we're going to do,' and we just said, 'Fantastic.'"

Becerra, Madrid and Peate all have strong praise for the education they received at Moorpark College.

Becerra, a Simi Valley City Council member since 1998, spent his first three years at the college taking one class per semester, often at night, uncertain about where his schooling might lead him. He spent most of his time working at various jobs so he could bring money home to his single mother.

By the time he left school, he was student body president, a President's Scholarship Award winner, and heading to UC Berkeley. He was also the first member of his family to graduate from college.

"It was really just having someone who cared, who showed me that there was all this potential bottled up, and I needed to start acting on it," Becerra said. "I learned if I was going to have a bright future, I had to seriously dedicate myself to my education, and it kind of really changed my whole life."

Madrid and Peate have similar stories to tell.

Madrid, a Moorpark native, attended the junior college from 1991 to 1993 and then transferring to Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. He now lives in Sacramento with his wife and two children and works as a political consultant.

Becerra and Madrid first met in 1992, when both were working on Congressman Elton Gallegly's re-election campaign.

"When Glen and I went to Moorpark, we realized this was probably our last shot," Madrid said. "We had been out in the real world and we knew it was time for us to get serious.

"And for me, that's what the community college system is all about-it's really the release valve," he said. "It is the best means for people to have a second chance in a very credible, very serious way."

Madrid called the state's community college system a "more valuable system than even the UC system."

"And I don't say that lightly. Literally, the community college system changes . . . hundreds of thousands of lives," he said.

With this kind of enthusiasm from its leadership, Brown is excited about the potential of the alumni association. She said all it's lacking is a woman's point of view.

"The best thing they could do is be ambassadors for the college. I mean, we're talking about three pretty high-profile guys," Brown said. "All they need to do now is

find their female counterparts. And we've had just as many female student body presidents as male, so I know they're out there."

The alumni association was launched on May 17 during the Moorpark College Foundation's scholarship reception.

The association's first official act was to present a $500 leadership scholarship to student body president Kasey Krispin, who is graduating with a 4.0 gpa and continuing her education at UC Berkeley.

A Berkeley alumnus himself, Becerra said wants to give others the chance to have the same life-altering experience that have benefited himself and many other fellow graduates.

"(Moorpark College) had a profound impact on my future, and I don't know if that's a debt I'll ever be able to repay," Becerra said. "But I will continue to try, and this is just one more way of doing that."

Registration forms for the Moorpark College Alumni Association are available at www.moorparkcollege.edu.