Top Graduate at Cal Lutheran Gets His Due

It took four years of college, but Brad Bjelke finally is getting what he was denied in high school: recognition as the top graduate.

Bjelke, a Santa Clarita native, topped the Cal Lutheran University graduating class this year with a perfect 4.0 grade point average, netting him the Dean’s Award, the university’s equivalent of valedictorian.

Bjelke also topped his Saugus High School class with the 4.44 GPA four years ago. But that was the year the school eliminated the valedictorian designation, drawing controversy and nationwide attention.

Bjelke’s parents and others protested the move, and the ensuing fight made him a cause celebre across the county. Bjelke eventually made a defiant valedictory speech on a Los Angeles radio station.

Bjelke, 22, will join more than 550 graduates at Cal Lutheran’s 35th annual commencement ceremony today in the school’s Mount Clef Stadium. He will not give a speech--that came earlier this month at a special dinner--and he is simply the Dean’s Award winner, not “valedictorian.”

But that is good enough for Bjelke.

“It’s nice to be recognized,” Bjelke said. “In high school, I didn’t get the chance.”

Also among the approximately 320 Ventura County residents to graduate today is Cristina Mata, 22, of Oxnard. Mata, a business administration major, was one of the driving forces behind a campus program that provided shoes and clothing to needy children in Thousand Oaks.

Other graduates include Moorpark native and KCLU-FM broadcast journalist Jeff Barry, who will give the student commencement address, and Paul Alan Goldberger of Thousand Oaks, who will be honored as this year’s top Adult Evening Program graduate.

Bjelke said the Saugus High School controversy is behind him, but he clearly has not forgotten it. “I’ve never been too happy with that school since that event,” he said.

School officials said they made their decision because competition for top honors was causing severe emotional distress among top students.

At one point, the school’s principal testified that a student became suicidal after his parents pressured him to be first in his class.

*

Officials and students also said the GPA measurement, which gave extra points for honors classes, discouraged students from studying other subjects. It also encouraged them to manipulate their schedules to maximize their GPAs.

The elimination of valedictorian sent a message to students who worked hard and competed for top honors, Bjelke said. “They’re basically saying, ‘Don’t work hard any more,’ ” he said. “America is founded on competition.”

Saugus High registrar Carol Goodman said the decision was not unilateral. “It was discussed with the staff; it was discussed with the parents and the community,” she said.

“It was decided that it simply was not fair,” she said. “GPA alone does not determine who the best student is.”

According to Goodman, there have not been any problems with the no-valedictorian policy since Bjelke graduated.

Bjelke did not rest on his laurels after his stunning performance in high school.

*

Besides maintaining his grades, Bjelke helped found the Cal Lutheran chapter of Sigma Thau Delta, a Greek honor society. He also worked at the campus public information office and as a referee for intramural basketball games.

Bjelke said he will build on his political science and English degree by studying law at Boston College. He intends to work on contract law and specialize in the entertainment or sports business.

Bjelke is not the only Cal Lutheran graduate who will leave the university with richly deserved praise.

Rio Mesa High School alumna Mata spent the day before graduation handing out shoes and clothing to needy students at Glenwood Elementary School in Thousand Oaks. Mata and her roommate, Laura Vallejo of Escondido, were instrumental in making sure Shoes That Fit succeeded at Cal Lutheran.

Shoes That Fit is a nationwide program designed to give shoes to needy students. Mata and Vallejo raised $6,000 over the last three years, often soliciting the help of businesses to donate prizes for campus fund-raising drives. Their money helped pay for about 150 pairs of shoes.

The university program was foundering until Mata and Vallejo took charge, university officials said. Together they changed Cal Lutheran’s Shoes That Fit from a small gift-giving program run from the campus chapel into a campus-wide effort.

“I’m really impressed with their selflessness,” said Ann Backstrand, parent coordinator of the program at Glenwood. “They took the program and made it into more than it was intended to be.”

Mata, who worked two jobs to pay for college, attributed her success and selflessness to her parents. “My family has never been in need, but we’ve known people who have,” she said. “Seeing my parents help them has helped me grow to help other people.”

*

The oldest of four children and the first in her family to attend college, Mata also said her father, Modesto, and her mother, Graciela, who own a repair business in Oxnard, helped her succeed academically.

“I grew up hearing, ‘Don’t work with your back, work with your head,’ ” Mata said. “And now I’m doing it.”