Honorary Doctorate – Bakersfield
Morgan E. Clayton – Doctor of Humane Letters
Community leader and entrepreneur Morgan E. Clayton was born and raised in Bakersfield. One of eight children, he lost his parents at the age of 15. Determined not to enter the child welfare system, he lived in a garage with his dog, concealing the fact that he was an orphan during his entire four years at Bakersfield High School. After attending Bakersfield College, he founded Tel-Tec Security Systems, Inc., which has been providing security solutions to its clients for more than 40 years.
In addition to building a multimillion-dollar enterprise from the ground up, Mr. Clayton has dedicated himself to championing economic, workforce-development and equal-opportunity initiatives throughout Kern County, serving in many advisory roles in the arts, health care and government.
Mr. Clayton is the founder of Leaders in Life, an annual student-led, student-driven youth leadership conference “for teens, by teens." Since 2000, more than 46,000 Kern County students have gathered to learn about issues that are important to them, empowering them to make healthy, informed decisions. Many Leaders in Life participants have returned in later years as rising community leaders to reciprocate the positive impact that effective mentoring had in their lives.
In recognition of his service to the Kern County community, the Board of Trustees of the California State University and California State University, Bakersfield are proud to confer upon Morgan E. Clayton the honorary degree of Doctor of Humane Letters.