On Jan. 27, Cabrillo College announced that following the November historic, 6-1 Board vote to rename the college, it is inviting proposals for a new name via a broad-based community survey.
That community survey, open to everyone, is available at: www.cabrillo.edu/governing-board/name-exploration-subcommittee/.
The survey will be open through Friday, Feb. 22.
The new name must meet several criteria: the college’s name should reflect the college’s mission, values, and community, and the college should not be named after a person.
“We want to receive broad-based community input on what the new name of Cabrillo College should be,” said Christina Cuevas, who chairs the Board Name Exploration Subcommittee. “Though the timeframe is shorter than the community input we sought during the first two years of this process in a series of community education sessions and dialogues, the survey takes just a couple minutes to complete and can be shared broadly. We want to hear from you!”
The survey also is a call for volunteers to serve on a 25-member task force to help the Name Exploration Subcommittee narrow the list of names received to a set of proposed finalists.
The Task Force will meet five times during the spring semester, from noon to 1:30 p.m. on March 10, April 7, April 21, May 5, and May 19.
“I’m happy to now be in this ideation phase of the process,” said Adam Spickler, who chairs the Cabrillo College Board of Trustees. “Recognizing that the Board of Trustees has the final authority to select the college’s new name, the role of the Task Force will be to help the Board identify finalists for a name that will inspire a renewed sense of unity and support for our beloved college.”
Names propose via survey will be added to a list of proposed names Cabrillo received in the two-year process leading up to this phase, during which Cabrillo collected more than 300 emails and letters from community members, alumni, students, faculty, and staff.
The November 6-1 vote to rename Cabrillo College set in motion a process to establish a new name for the college by August 2023, and the use of the new name by July 1, 2024.
Cabrillo College donor Richard Crocker, who gave $1 million for the Crocker Theater on campus, shared his views in a letter to the editor: He opposes the name change.