Cabrillo College To Discuss Name Change on Monday

By Jondi Gumz

A proposal to change the name of Cabrillo College because it is offensive to indigenous cultures will be discussed during the Board of Trustees Retreat, which takes place on Monday, July 20, at 5 p.m. via Zoom. To view, go to https://cccconfer.zoom.us/j/97743372616.

The topic was placed on the agenda by Matthew Wetstein, the college superintendent and president.

The college was named in 1959 for Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo, the first European explorer to arrive at the California coast on Sept. 28, 1542.

Amidst growing calls for social and racial justice, Cabrillo College has faced internal criticism for its name. The explorer Cabrillo was in the service of Spain, and his discovery of California for the Spanish empire led to the conquest of the native population and their relegation and decimation within the Spanish missions.

Despite this, Cabrillo has a number of monuments and places named after him throughout California, including the Cabrillo National Monument on Point Loma in San Diego, several high schools and middle schools throughout the state, various beaches, and stretches of highway along the coast.

Faculty member John Govsky has called on the Board at two separate meetings to establish a task force to consider renaming the college, allowing it to remove the stain of European colonialism and indigenous population subjugation in favor of a more appropriate college name.

The Board will consider two possible options for studying the renaming question: Directing Wetstein to appoint a task force, which would develop recommendations to be reviewed by governance committees like the Academic Senate, Student Government and College Planning Committee before coming to the Board, or allowing the Board to create its own task force or subcommittee to develop recommendations for the Board.

Renaming the college will come at a cost, perhaps as much as $1 million, according to the agenda. A host of signs would have to be changed, not just landmark entrance signs and campus way-finding maps, but also highway signs would need to be changed in collaboration with CalTrans.

The name change also would require changing the college’s domain name and web presence, along with paying the price of acquiring and establishing a new dot-edu web domain. Other expenses include: Logo design, letterhead, business cards, marketing materials, and legal costs associated with a name change.

A resolution for action has been drafted by faculty, Dr. Kofi Akinjide, Dr. Victoria Bañales, Martin Garcia, Beth Regardz, and John Govsky. The goal of the resolution is to remove a name considered racist and replace it with a more culturally relevant title that would symbolize the return of the land to the indigenous people.

To make a public comment during the Board of Trustees Retreat, email Ronnette Smithcamp at rosmithc@cabrillo.edu by noon Monday, July 20. Put “Public Comment for the Board of Trustees Retreat July 20 in the Subject Line.

Public comments will take place at the beginning of the retreat.