COMMUNITY NEWS
Student Views: Should Cabrillo College Change Its Name? D r. Adela Najarro, who teaches English 2 in the Puente Learning Communities at Cabrillo College, introduces student essays on the topic, “Should Cabrillo College Change Its Name?” In “Composition & Critical Thinking,” known as English 2, students wrote persuasive essays expressing their point of view about renaming Cabrillo College. Students argued both sides of the question after reviewing the issue through sources on the Cabrillo College website and after con- Dr. Adela Najarro ducting research at the Cabrillo College library databases. Students volunteered to share their perspectives on this document and at the Cabrillo College name change exploration event April 22 on Zoom and recorded on
YouTube. To read these essays, visit tinyurl. com/cabrillo-student-name-essays. (Full URL: https://docs.google.com/ document/d/13Vz_Nb3VN90P3L9YZzGP DSyaHsTmHddw-MF0StY-8I4/edit) ••• Graciela Yepez hen it comes to discussing whether Cabrillo College should have a name change, I have to disagree with changing the name because there are a lot of things that need to be taken into consideration. An issue that has to be talked about when it comes to having a name change is that it’s an expensive thing to do. Also, people don’t like that it’s named after an individual that has done horrific things in the past that is unacceptable. But this discussion is a teaching opportunity for the college because they can use it to teach the wrongdoings that Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo committed and explain why these views don’t represent the College.
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Although our college is named after Rodriguez Cabrillo, it doesn’t mean that it accepts the actions that this individual did but gives us an insight into who it was named. Not only that, it’s expensive to change the name of this college just because of who it was named after. There are a lot of things to be taken into consideration on how it will affect things later in the future. ••• Armando Membreno o you believe the name “Cabrillo College” should be changed? Some will think it shouldn’t, or others believe it should. I am here to say that I believe that the name “Cabrillo College” should be changed. Cabrillo College is named after Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo, who carries a sinister past. Nowadays, in our society, many statues and names are changed due to the history that comes with it that is no longer acceptable, as it can be seen as disrespectful and hateful. Renaming Cabrillo College is a controversial subject; even though many believe that the college’s name shouldn’t be changed, we should change the college’s name and create a fresh start for the college that removes a horrible history. Some individuals will point out that the name “Cabrillo College’’ has been around for a while. Another point that many bring up is the cost of what it would take to rename the College. An interesting point that individuals have brought up is that Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo was not doing anything illegal as sex trafficking was legal in the 16th century. Although sex trafficking was not illegal back then, Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo shouldn’t be honored for his disgusting past acts. As these points do not sound convincing, it would be vital to change the College’s name. Changing the College’s name would show respect to the many students out there who are fighting to remove the name “Cabrillo’’ because of the bad history that comes along with it. This would help create a new fresh start for the Cabrillo College, and give the college some admiration. Nonetheless, the cost shouldn’t be a reason why the college’s name can’t be changed. If anything, not changing the college’s name would make the college’s reputation to look bad.
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Students argued both sides of the question after reviewing the issue through sources on the Cabrillo College website and after conducting research at the Cabrillo College library databases.
••• Julia Pimentel any people believe that a name change for Cabrillo college is a necessary and vital action to do. Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo did an incredible amount of inhumane, cruel things to men, women, and children. For this and more reasons, many want a name change for the college. They don’t want the school to carry the name of that kind of person. The name causes more problems than what it already brings. It’s respectful to the victims or those who know of Cabrillo’s history not to see it publicly. Although this may be a good solution at first, a name change would make a significant impact. The name change wouldn’t change the harm caused in the past because people will still know what happened and what he did to those innocent victims. The process of changing the name can also be an expensive cost to the school. The school shouldn’t go through this process as the name can be a lesson about Cabrillo’s kind of person. More and more people can know more about his life and learn about him. There can be other solutions for not changing the school’s name, like using the money to help disadvantaged indigenous students. Other solutions include funding classes that lack money, more courses about racism, and helping the community. There can also be statues and monuments remembering the victims of Cabrillo for what they went through. Also, monuments that honor the indigenous people of the area and what they went through. Renaming Cabrillo College will cost too much; therefore, we should not rename the school but instead spend those funds on monuments about the barbarity of the Spanish conquest of the Americas. n
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