Moorpark College First Hall of Fame Inductees announced
MOORPARK COLLEGE GOLDEN GALA TO CELEBRATE 50 YEARS OF STUDENT SUCCESS, AUG. 26 REAGAN PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY
Notable Hall of Fame Alumni Inductees Honored
MOORPARK, CA (Aug. 18, 2017) – As part of the Moorpark College Golden Gala celebration slated for Saturday, Aug. 26, 2017, 5:30 p.m., at the Air Force One Ronald Reagan Library (40 Presidential Drive, Simi Valley, CA 93065), notable alumni will be honored and inducted into the first Moorpark College Hall of Fame class. Inductees will include: Frank Barajas, Dr. Gregory Boursalian, Nena (Siljegovic) Gusic, Gabe Kapler, Matt Mahurin, Arpit Malaviya, Julie Scardina, Michael (Mike) Stoker and Sylvia Sullivan.
Distinguished alumni were selected for their contributions in the arts, business, education and sports,” stated Moorpark College President Luis Sanchez. “Each has made a significant difference in their professions on a local, national or international level. We welcome them as our first class of Hall of Fame inductees,” stated Sanchez. “We are more than proud of the progress that Moorpark College has made in the past 50 years,” stated VCCCD Board Chair Bernardo Perez. “We salute our honorees and thank them for representing the college in their professions and the world community,” added Perez.
Moorpark College Notable Hall of Fame Alumni Inductees:
Frank Barajas
Frank Barajas held the Moorpark College wrestling takedown record for a number of years. He graduated from Moorpark College in 1985 with an Associate of Arts and transferred to California State University, Fresno. He earned a baccalaureate and master’s degree in history from Fresno state, then a doctorate in history from Claremont Graduate University in 2001, while teaching full-time at Cypress College in Orange County. Barajas was one of the first 13 tenure-track professors at California State University, Channel Islands. He is currently a full-time professor and chair of Chicana/o Studies and History. In 2012, the University of Nebraska Press published his book “Curious Unions: Mexican American Workers and Resistance in Oxnard, California, 1898-1961.” He is now writing his second book tentatively titled, “Mexican Americans with Moxie: The Chicano Movement in Ventura County, California, 1960-1975.”
Dr. Gregory Boursalian
Dr. Gregory Boursalian enrolled at Moorpark College in 2003, where he matured academically under the guidance of the dedicated faculty. He graduated in 2006, then transferred to the University of California, Berkeley, to pursue a bachelor’s in chemistry. Boursalian graduated from UC, Berkeley, in 2009. He began his graduate studies at Harvard University in 2010 as a National Science Foundation Predoctoral Fellow and earned his doctorate in May 2016, having spent the final year of his graduate studies at the Max-Planck-Institut für Kohlenforschung in Mülheim an der Ruhr, Germany.
Nevena Siljegovic Gusic
Nevena (Siljegovic) Gusic, known as Nena to family and friends, is best remembered as Moorpark College volleyball legend number 9 – whose jersey was retired in 2013; she is the first female student-athlete at Moorpark College to have her jersey number retired. Gusic migrated with her family to the United States from Serbia (former Yugoslavia) in 2000. In 2003, she was named national Player of the Year in volleyball. Gusic played professional volleyball for the Evreux Professional Women’s Volleyball Club, Evreux, France, from 2006 to 2008; she served as Head Junior Varsity Women’s Volleyball Coach at California Lutheran University, Thousand Oaks, CA, from 2008 to 2013. She was a general manager at Target for nine years and currently works as Senior Manager at Apple.
Gabe Kapler
Gabe Kapler attended Moorpark College in 1995 at the request of baseball Coach Mario Porto. He hit .337 with 7 home runs and 52 RBIs in a first-team All-Western State Conference. Kapler was drafted by the Detroit Tigers in the 57th round at the age of 22, but was known for his role in a K-Swiss shoe campaign before reaching the pros. He was a member of the 2004 Boston Red Sox World Series championship team and inducted into the Moorpark College Athletic Hall of Fame in 2008. Kapler currently serves as Director of Player Development for the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Matt Mahurin
Matt Mahurin attended Moorpark College from 1978-1979. He is an American illustrator, photographer, film director and teacher with more than 30 years of experience. His illustrations have appeared in Time, Newsweek, Rolling Stone and The New York Times, to name a few. Photographs by Mahurin, including Clemmons Prison, Texas (1985), Texas Prison (1988), Woman’s Face in Darkness (1989) and Paris (1984), are included in the permanent collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. Mahurin’s work as a photo essayist has dealt with subjects such as homelessness, people with AIDS, the Texas prison system, abortion clinics, Nicaragua, Haiti, and Belfast. His extensive work directing music videos since 1986 has resulted in working with U2, Queensryche, Metallica, Dreams So Real, Jaye Muller (J.), Tracy Chapman, Tom Waits, R.E.M., Alice In Chains and many other popular music performers. He also directed music videos for Peter Gabriel, Sting, Bonnie Raitt, Ice-T, David Byrne, and Joni Mitchell and published three books of fine-art photographs.
Arpit Malaviya graduated from Moorpark College in 2002. He received the President’s Award for his service to students and the community and holds the distinction of being the first student from Moorpark College to conduct research at the Caltech Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) under the Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) program. Malaviya was one of 30 students nationwide who was awarded the prestigious Paul and Daisy Soros Fellowship in 2004; he was also awarded the National Science Foundation Fellowship to fund his research at Stanford University. He is currently the CEO of ProDIGIQ, Inc., an innovative technology company he co-founded with his wife.
Julie Scardina attended Moorpark College from 1975-1977. She received the Biology Student of the Year award her first year in attendance and is a proud member of the Exotic Animal Training and Management Alumni Hall of Fame. Scardina also holds a bachelor’s degree in psychology with a minor in biology from San Diego State University. She serves on the boards of the SeaWorld & Busch Gardens Conservation Fund, the Emerging Wildlife Conservation Leaders program and the World Wildlife Fund National Council; she utilizes her expertise in conservation, animal training and care to improve the lives of animals worldwide. Scardina has appeared on the Tonight Show with Jay Leno and NBC’s Today Show more than 100 times discussing animals and conservation. She has traveled the globe for years with Jack Hanna, appearing in his weekly show “Animal Adventures,” has visited all seven continents and travels annually to Africa. Scardina also co-authored “Wildlife Heroes,” with long-time friend Jeff Flocken, highlighting 40 people around the globe who have dedicated their lives to saving species.
Michael (Mike) Stoker attended Moorpark College from 1972-1973. He was the Junior College National Debate Champion representing Moorpark College and graduated with honors. He received his undergraduate degree from the University of California, Berkeley, where he graduated Magna Cum Laude, and his Juris Doctorate from Loyola Law School (Los Angeles) where he graduated with high honors and participated in the Scott Moot Court honors program. Stoker’s practice focuses on land use, government and agricultural law. He currently serves as the Director of Government Relations for UnitedAg. In 1992, he was named “Most Valuable Public Official in County Government in America” by Governing Magazine – chosen out of 17,532 potential recipients. In June 1995, Stoker was appointed Chairman of the California Agricultural Labor Relations Board by Governor Pete Wilson, where he served until 2000; in 2000, California Secretary of State Bill Jones named Stoker Deputy Secretary of State where he served until January 2003.
Sylvia Sullivan realized her dream of becoming an architect and building her dream home after enrolling in Construction Technology courses at Moorpark College in 1970. A native of Manhattan, New York, Sullivan was a freshman at Syracuse University in 1952 when she discovered women were not allowed to study architecture. Instead, she took courses related to architecture as electives for a major in interior design. Sullivan graduated from Syracuse University then worked as an Interior Designer for major department stores in New York. After moving to California, she became a drafting instructor at Moorpark College, then obtained a Master of Arts in Architecture and Urban Planning from the University of California, Los Angeles, in 1982; she also taught as a full-time professor at the College of the Canyons from 1990 to 2000. Sullivan has built 12 homes for clients. She credits her success to the Moorpark College experience and Civil Engineer instructor Tom Harris.
MOORPARK COLLEGE, one of three colleges in the Ventura County Community College District, was founded in 1967. It is set on 150 beautiful acres, nestled in the foothills on the southeastern flank of Ventura County, about 40 miles from UCLA, and approximately 75 miles from UC Santa Barbara. It is also a short drive from CSU Northridge, CSU Channel Islands, and California Lutheran University. Moorpark College was recognized in the Huffington Post in March of 2015 as the fourth-best community college in the nation. It has an excellent reputation for university transfer preparation, and its signature career/technical programs include nursing, radiation technology, biotechnology, and exotic animal training, which incorporates the world-renowned America’s Teaching Zoo. The college also offers a dynamic range of classes and programs in the visual and performing arts, and its pristine athletic fields and mild climate provide an excellent home for student athletes.
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