Cal State East Bay Honors Jacob Blea III as 2015 Distinguished Alumnus
Cal State East Bay President Leroy M. Morishita (left) and Associate Vice President for Development Kathleen Brady (right) present Judge Jacob Blea III (center) with his Distinguished Alumnus of the Year plaque.
- May 19, 2015
Jacob Blea III, a judge for the Superior Court of Alameda County, was honored as Cal State East Bay’s 2015 Distinguished Alumnus of the Year at the university’s annual Honors Convocation on Saturday, May 16. Shaun Tai, the founder and executive director of the nonprofit Oakland Digital Arts and Literacy Center, was recognized as the university’s Distinguished Young Alumnus of the Year.
Blea, who earned his B.A. in English and his secondary teaching credential from Cal State East Bay in 1975, was appointed to the bench in 1997. He addressed the graduating honors students with a speech at the event, sharing that a job in the legal field was not his original plan — he instead intended to teach and coach.
“You can make all the plans you want but you have to be willing to change your course,” Blea told the students. “If I would have been unwilling to change my plan, I might have missed out on a truly blessed career in law … I might have missed out on my wonderful wife and four kids.”
After altering his career plan and graduating from law school at UC Berkeley, Blea has now served the legal community for more than 35 years. In addition to his involvement in several community service endeavors aimed at helping teens and young people, Blea has also taught in the Cal State East Bay’s paralegal education program for 25 years.
Blea closed his speech with some words of advice that had inspired him as he embarked on his career.
“Work hard, give something back,” he said. “And you might ask, ‘Well why … ?’ Because it’s the right thing to do. And if someone gives you an award later, it’s a bonus.”
Tai founded Oakland Digital after graduating with honors from CSUEB in 2002. His seven-year-old organization aims to aid those left behind by the digital revolution in underserved communities and has helped more than 3,000 under-resourced community college students, women entrepreneurs and at-risk youth gain opportunities for employment. He also volunteers his time at CSUEB by participating in several events that enrich campus life, including the Industry Job Panel Keynote Series. Tai received his B.A. in digital arts from CSUEB before earning his B.S. in advertising management and master’s degree in architectural and urban design from San Jose State.