Regional History Project Oral Histories

Longtime director of El Centro, UC Santa Cruz’s Chicano/Latino Resource Center, and counselor and academic coordinator at UCSC’s Educational Opportunity Program, Rosie [Rosalee] Cabrera, mentored, advised, counseled, and inspired UCSC students for nearly three decades. “I can think of no one on campus more committed to helping our students reach their full potential as young scholars, leaders, and human beings,” wrote Larry Trujillo, Executive Director of Student and Academic Support Services, when he nominated Cabrera for the Outstanding Staff Award she received in 2009. In this oral history conducted by Susy Zepeda shortly before Cabrera’s retirement in 2013, Cabrera reconstructs the political and cultural climate at UCSC over three decades, sharing her memories of key Chicano/a and Latino/a campus figures, organizations, events, and student activism.