In honor of a former Moorpark College student, the bench between fountain hall and the administration building will be having a proper dedication ceremony next month.

The walkway and wooden bench near the flagpole is Steve’s Forest. Directly next to the bench, on the right side, is a plaque that reads,”Dedicated to Moorpark College Students In Loving Memory of Stephen Conrad Rafter May 2, 1983 – December 29, 2000.”

Rafter left an impression on everyone he encountered. At age 15, he became a Moorpark College student.

Sharon Miller, the director of student activities at Moorpark, who knew Rafter personally, said, “Steven served in the student government for two years. He worked on the student escort program, where he worked for free by driving students to and from their cars at night. Steven was very wise beyond his years.”

Rafter helped implement the student center fee to expand and renovate the student union. Moorpark College hasn’t used the funds that have been accumulating over the past nine years. The college placed the student union renovation at the bottom of the school’s master list of things to do. Rafter was also on the Associated Students board of directors.

Rafter’s mother, Eva Conrad, was the president of Moorpark College for six years. During that time, she brought about administrative reorganization and a strong dedication to benefit the College. The Moorpark College Foundation gave $10,000 to the Steve Rafter Memorial Fund, a gift to Conrad in retirement. A scholarship was set up that each year that gives money to those who served on Associated Student Government. The Scholarship Office may be contacted by those interested in contributing to the fund.

“The bench dates back to when Eva Conrad was the president of Moorpark College,” said Jeanne Brown, the MC public relations officer. “It was named for her son who died in 2000 in an automobile accident.”

During her time at the college, Conrad would bring in a live pine tree for the holidays. The grounds people would take the trees from the office after the holidays and plant them around campus grounds.

“My goals were to add some holiday cheer to the office in a way that contributed to the college beyond the holiday,” said Conrad. “Therefore a live tree that we could enjoy for a few weeks and that could then be planted on campus was a good solution to achieve both goals.”

Like her plans with the holiday trees, Conrad had even more plans to help benefit the college. Louise Christener, Conrad’s assistant for six years and the current president, Pam Eddinger, explained Conrad’s plans for Fountain Hall.

“She had a goal of seeing Fountain Hall being the main entrance to the college,” said Christener. “Fountain Hall was going to become the administration building but funding dried up.”

When Conrad retired, the college thought it would be appropriate to place Steve’s Forrest between the current administration building and Fountain Hall. The ceremony for the dedication of the site is planned for May 6 at 3:30 p.m., at “Steve’s Forest.”