Cal Lutheran to confer graduate degrees

Trina Moore-Southall, a dean of students and academics at Oaks Christian School, will speak on behalf of her fellow doctoral graduates. 

(THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. – April 27, 2016) California Lutheran University will hold its 2016 Graduate Commencement at 10 a.m. Friday, May 13, in William Rolland Stadium.

An estimated 541 students are eligible to receive master’s degrees and about 28 will receive doctorates at the ceremony. The graduate programs are based in Thousand Oaks, Oxnard, Woodland Hills, Westlake Village and Santa Maria as well as online.

Trina Moore-Southall, a dean of students and academics at Oaks Christian School, will speak on behalf of her fellow doctoral graduates. The Simi Valley resident is receiving a doctorate in educational leadership. The recipient of Cal Lutheran’s Strive for Excellence in Educational Leadership Fellowship this year, Moore-Southall has worked in public and private schools for more than 20 years. She taught history and English at the middle and high school levels and she was Oaks Christian’s Teacher of the Year in 2009. To have a greater voice in school management, she switched to administration. Moore-Southall, who double majored in black studies and law and society while earning her bachelor’s degree from the University of California, Santa Barbara, has a passion for diversity and inclusivity in education.

Matthew Thompson of Simi Valley will speak on behalf of the students receiving master’s degrees. Born and raised in Oxnard, Thompson attended Hueneme High School and earned a bachelor’s degree in social science specializing in secondary education, a master’s degree in teaching and a single subject credential in social science from University of California, Irvine. He will receive a master’s degree in counseling and guidance with a pupil personnel services credential from Cal Lutheran. He has worked in public and private schools for the last eight years. He taught social science, including Advanced Placement U.S. History, before transitioning to counseling. He currently serves as the college and academic counselor at St. Genevieve High School in Panorama City.

The Rev. Phyllis Anderson, president emerita of Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary of Cal Lutheran, will receive an honorary doctorate of divinity at the ceremony. She became the first woman to serve as president of a Lutheran seminary in the United States when she took the reins at PLTS in 2005. She retired from PLTS in 2013, and the Sonoma resident is currently working with the Criterion Institute on a campaign to encourage 1,000 churches to participate in a Bible study on faith and the economy and to make microloans to small businesses in their communities. Anderson, who earned a doctorate from Aquinas Institute of Theology, was the director of theological education in the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America through its first 10 years.

Tickets are required for admission. For more information, call the Office of Academic Affairs at 805-493-3364.