Cabrillo College Board of Trustees Votes to Change Name of Cabrillo College

Cabrillo College Library

APTOS, CA - At its meeting earlier tonight, a majority of the Cabrillo College Governing Board voted to accept the recommendation of the Board Name Exploration Subcommittee to change the name of Cabrillo College. In its decision, the Board set a goal of selecting a new name by the August 2023 meeting of the Board of Trustees, and beginning to use the new name at the start of fiscal year 2024-25.

A long time coming

This decision follows a rigorous, two-year process of research, community education, surveys, opportunities for community input, and community dialogue that was initiated by the Board Name Exploration Subcommittee. The Subcommittee was formed in July of 2020, in response to a request to rename the College, amidst a period of widespread social unrest in the United States and critical analysis of the namesake of the College, Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo.

 In September of 2020, the Board Name Exploration Subcommittee created a Name Exploration Advisory Task Force to help the Subcommittee solicit widespread community stakeholder input; develop community education and engagement strategies; and examine the costs and resource implications of changing the College's name. The Committee and Task Force conducted its work in the 2020-21 and 2021-22 academic years, with the Committee members writing a comprehensive, 60-page report in fall of 2022 and making a recommendation to the Cabrillo College Board of Trustees  at its November 14 meeting.

“In reaching its recommendation, the Board Name Exploration Subcommittee adhered to its core principles of  aligning with the mission of being critical thinkers; ensuring we did the kind of deep critical thinking that is expected of an institution of higher education,” said Christina Cuevas, Board Name Exploration Subcommittee Chair. “We conducted rigorous outreach to ensure all voices, demographics and perspectives had an opportunity to receive the information and voice an opinion, and prioritized historically underrepresented and emerging student populations. This was an incredibly thorough and academically rigorous process, and I feel like all involved learned something significant about the namesake of Cabrillo College,” continued Cuevas.

“After reading the extensive report prepared by the Board Name Exploration Subcommittee and conducting a robust discussion during the Board meeting, our Board of Trustees decided that the right action at this time is to change the name of Cabrillo College,” said Donna Ziel, Board Chair. “As stated in the report, the harm caused by colonial expansion is real and it is a harm that represents transgenerational trauma to this day. As many people pointed out during the community dialogues, now that we know the name Cabrillo does continuing harm to members of the College’s public, we have a responsibility to correct that harm.”

The Board Name Exploration Subcommittee believes that the positive impacts of a name change will outweigh the negative ones, but recognizes that community engagement is needed to ensure widespread agreement on whatever new name is chosen. The Committee recommended, and the Board agreed through its approval of the motion, that a new name should either be rooted in Cabrillo’s values, or rooted in a geographic touchstone, and that the College should not be named after an individual person.

Through its approval of the motion, the Board directed the Cabrillo Board Name Exploration Subcommittee and College President and Superintendent to concurrently work on building financial resources to address cost concerns surrounding a name change, while conducting a process that would seek input for renaming the College, with a goal of selecting a new name by the August 2023 meeting of the Board of Trustees. 

“I’m really proud of the education and outreach effort that the College engaged in and I’m hopeful that we’ll continue to have strong community input moving forward, as we work to select a new name for this great College,” said Trustee Adam Spickler and member of the Board Subcommittee.

The new name would start being used at the start of the fiscal year 2024-25 (July 1, 2024). For more information or to read the Board Name Exploration Subcommittee Report, please visit: www.cabrillo.edu.
​​Contact: Kristin Fabos, Director of Marketing and Communications T: 831-479-6158 krfabos [at] cabrillo.edu

About Cabrillo College

Cabrillo College is a leading California community college serving Santa Cruz County with locations in Aptos and Watsonville. It is ranked #1 in transfers to UC Santa Cruz. Founded in 1959, the college offers over 100 academic and career technical education programs that serve multiple educational goals such as A.A. and A.S. degrees, certificates of achievement, skills certificates, transfer to 4-year institutions or for lifelong learning and personal enrichment. With a commitment to quality and equity, Cabrillo connects all learners to pathways that propel them from where they are to where they aspire to be, including: academic, personal, and career growth.