By Joann Groff
Assistant News Editor
Pepperdine sophomore Nate Shek pleaded not guilty Sept. 11 to charges of possession of controlled substances with the intention to sell, after being arrested two days earlier in his room at dorm two.
The Department of Public Safety arrived at Shek’s dorm around 4 p.m. Sept. 9 where officers discovered marijuana, cocaine, drug paraphernalia and alcohol. The Lost Hills Sheriff’s Department was called and had Shek in custody by 5:50 p.m.
Shek appeared at the Malibu Courthouse Wednesday with his public defender, Michael Masterson. The 19-year-old was released on $10,000 bail, and was ordered to appear back in court Oct. 22 at 8:30 a.m.
Both of Shek’s parents were ar one time Pepperdine employees. His father, Henry Shek, was the manager of housekeeping services at central plant operations. Janet Shek, his mother, is an administrative assistant at the Pepperdine School of Law.
“He’s home,” Janet Shek said. “He is very depressed. We don’t know at this point if he’ll be able to return to Pepperdine.”
Shek has moved out of his dorm and is not attending classes. His mother said Shek told her he went to an off-campus party and attendees had him try some drugs.
Friend and former co-worker senior Nicholas Sheldon said Shek’s troubles started before his Pepperdine career.
“He was working for special programs before he started school,” Sheldon said. “He started his Pepperdine experience then, and during that time there is a greater essence of freedom as far as what you can get away with. Nate starting out in that environment didn’t help the situation.”
Kanet Thomas, Director of Special Programs, heads the department Shek worked for during his summers at Pepperdine. Although she did not work with Shek on a daily basis, she said she expected him to do well because of his good family reputation.
“He seemed like a good kid,” Thomas said. “His father worked here for many years, and he was such a very good worker. A lot of times when you have such a good worker in someone, their kids will be the same way. Nate seemed to do his share, although I wasn’t his immediate supervisor.”
Thomas said Shek’s responsibilities were the same as the other 30-or-so student-workers she hires during the summers, including setting up for the many summer camps held at Pepperdine for eight-hour shifts, five days a week.
“Nate was ultimately a really good kid,” Sheldon said. “I feel like, early on, he got mixed up with the wrong crowd and started interacting with the wrong people.”
Shek’s mother sounded distressed during a phone interview, in which she pleaded with the student body to learn from her son’s experience.
“If it helps, I would encourage students on campus to stay away from drugs and those kind of wild parties,” Janet Shek said. “They cause a lot of damages.”
September 25, 2003