Some honors are earned quietly.

 

Last month, one of our neighbors, Traco Matthews, walked across the stage at California State University, Bakersfield and received one of the highest honors in the entire CSU system – an Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree. It’s an extraordinary recognition reserved for people whose lives have made a lasting difference through public service and community leadership.

 

But if you know Traco, you know the title isn’t what matters most.

 

For more than two decades, we’ve watched him serve the Bakersfield community with conviction, compassion, and courage. Whether as Chief Health Equity Officer at Kern Health Systems, as Senior Pastor at Church of God Bakersfield, or through countless boards, commissions, and community organizations, Traco has always seemed drawn to those whose voices are hardest to hear.

 

His work has focused on a simple but powerful idea: everyone deserves to belong.

 

As Traco often says, if he had one wish, it would be to help others see what we often miss: the beauty of God-designed diversity, the unsung servant leaders in our community, and the potential in their own hearts to truly love every person God has created. Because when we see these things, our hearts are prompted to bring others into our circles of support, giving them that life-enhancing and invaluable sense of belonging.

 

That mission was shaped by his own experiences. As a young college student, he faced moments that made him question whether he belonged at all. Rather than letting those experiences define him, he turned them into purpose – advocating for civil rights, improving health outcomes, and helping others find opportunity and dignity.

 

Along the way, he earned an MBA from CSUB, taught as an adjunct professor, helped launch the university’s MBA Alumni chapter, and was appointed by Governor Gavin Newsom to serve on California’s Racial Equity Commission. And now, his alma mater has honored him for a lifetime of service.

 

But if you ask Traco, the work is far from finished.

 

"I always want to leverage every opportunity to call other people into the work I've dedicated my life to doing," he says. "Creating belonging isn't the responsibility of a few people or a few organizations. It's something all of us can do, every day, in our neighborhoods, workplaces, schools, and places of worship."

 

When Traco shared the news, his response wasn't about accomplishment. It was gratitude. Gratitude to God, to his wife Jessica, to his colleagues and mentors, and to the many people who walked alongside him on this journey.

 

That feels exactly right ... exactly who Traco is.

 

Because while the university may now call him "Dr. Traco Philip Matthews," most of us simply know him as a neighbor, a leader, and a man who has spent his life helping others believe they belong.

 

And in a world that could use more of that, I can't think of anyone more deserving.