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By PK Hattis pkhattis@santacruzsentinel.com APTOS » For Cabrillo Col- lege and its board of trust- ees, the hard work is done and now the hard work be- gins. The board capped off a more than two year process in November when it voted to change the school's name after its namesake — 16th- century Spanish explorer Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo — was revealed to hold a trou- bling legacy of colonial con- quest and subjugation. T h e r e c o m m e n d e d change came from the Name Exploration Subcom- mittee, formed in July 2020 in response to a petition that gathered more than 100 student and faculty sig- natures endorsing the idea of selecting a new school ti- tle. Its findings were sum- marized in a 64-page report that included summaries of numerous public town halls, education initiatives, open surveys and consulta- tion with local experts and historians. "We need to be open to change. As difficult as it is, it's never going to be easy," Cabrillo Trustee and Sub- committee Chair Christina Cuevas recently told the Sentinel. "We're a learn- ing institution and so if we learn something new that changes what has gone in the past, it seems reason- able and appropriate to make a change for the fu- ture." Many trustees expressed profound difficulty and complicated feelings when faced with the prospect of changing a name estab- lished more than 60 years prior. But ultimately an over whelming majorit y came to a similar conclu- sion as Cuevas and voted to begin the transition. Trustee Rachael Spencer was the sole vote against the motion. Cuevas said a specific plan for finding a new name has not yet been agreed upon, but the subcommit- tee will meet the first week of January to begin draft- ing an outline for the pro- cess with a goal of select- ing a new name by the Au- gust 2023 trustee meeting. The report During a presentation to the board prior to its vote, the school's Superinten- dent and President Mat- thew Wetstein helped sum- marize common sentiments the subcommittee heard on both sides of the issue. Many in favor of the change believed that the school had a social responsi- bility to find a new title now that it understands the pain it is causing many in the community. Paraphrasing the "change" point of view, Wetstein added that many voiced support for a cost assessment and thought- ful planning for how the situation can be used as a "teachable moment." On the other hand, Wet- stein said those advocat- ing for the "keep" option had concerns about a per- ceived slippery slope of po- litical correctness, potential for waning financial sup- port and pointed to a sub- committee survey showing a majority of respondents were in favor of keeping the "Cabrillo" name. Wetstein added context by saying that the survey was not random and was oversubscribed with older individuals who tended to support the current name. He also said 15% of com- munity members who at- tended one of the subcom- mittee's education events about Juan Rodriguez Ca- brillo were more likely to support a name change af- ter the session. What's ahead What the report didn't include was a specific plan for choosing a new name, which Cuevas said was done intentionally to avoid the appearance that the change was a "foregone conclusion." Cuevas also said the group is in conversation with the president of a col- lege in Virginia that has un- dergone a similar renam- ing process, which she de- scribed as having "ample opportunity for people to weigh in." "We're not the first ones to be doing this," Cuevas said. "I'm grateful to have colleagues who have al- ready paved the way and (we are) really drawing on that experience to help guide us." With an added caveat that the final process will require board approval, Cuevas said some early ideas include public town halls, a task force of diverse community representation that will solicit name sug- gestions broadly and an- other group that can help winnow them down to a sizable number for board review. Cuevas reiterated the re- port recommendation that the name ought to be val- ues-driven or "rooted in a geographic touchstone" and should not be named after an individual person. "People are sending us names now and all those will be included," Cuevas said. "We need help to really think through what's going to be an appropriate name that really stands for what the college believes in and values and is a name that will endure and inspire peo- ple." CABRILLO COLLEGE Stage set for new name in 2023 Trustees voted to change name of college in November Manu Koenig, who strongly supported the Greenway vi- sion during the campaign. Still, he believed the mes- sage from voters was clear. "I think the vote on Mea- sure D means people aren't ready to give up on the rail option yet," said Koenig, who chairs the commission and also represents the 1st District on the Santa Cruz County Board of Super- visors. "It's important to honor the will of the peo- ple and do as much as we can to provide more infor- mation." In that regard, most com- missioners are in agree- ment. The RTC recently agreed to spend $3.8 million to partially fund a "concept report" for a 22-mile elec- tric passenger rail project from Watsonville to Santa Cr u z . T he ea rly-pha se study — estimated for com- pletion within 24 months — will gather information through public outreach, assessment of existing rail infrastructure and envi- ronmental conditions, ini- tial ridership modeling and a right-of-way investiga- tion, among other things. Subsequent preconstruc- tion phases of the project that will help define the scope of its work but are not yet funded include pre- liminary engineering and environmental documen- tation and initial right-of- way services. While Koenig voted to approve initial funding for the concept report, he be- lieves it and other stud- ies that follow are likely to show that Santa Cruz and electric passenger rail are incompatible for financial, environmental and logisti- cal reasons. Commissioner Randy Johnson, who was the sole vote against pur- suing the concept report, goes a step further and has already outright de- clared that he doesn't see a "bright future" for rail in Santa Cruz or even the re- gion more broadly. Other commissioners such as Rotkin have instead embraced a realistic opti- mism. He said he is open to changing his stance de- pending on information un- covered in forthcoming re- ports, but added that "the fatal flaw in rail is yet to ap- pear to me." "The rest of the world is totally invested and en- gaged in this kind of train service and I don't see why we can't make it work in America," Rotkin said. "We made it work first before everybody else and for a bunch of complex reasons destroyed that system over the years and I'm very opti- mistic we can bring it back." Measure D FROM PAGE 1 The Capitola trestle offers the most scenic section of the Santa Cruz Branch Rail Line as it crosses Soquel Creek. DAN COYRO — SANTA CRUZ SENTINEL FILE BRANDON VALLANCE — SANTA CRUZ SENTINEL Watsonville High's soccer team celebrates its win over Branham aˆer receiving the CCS Open Division championship trophy in San Jose on Feb. 25. It's the program's 12th section title. RAUL EBIO — SANTA CRUZ SENTINEL MVC School baseball coach Johnny Ramirez is given a celebration bath aˆer the Mustangs won the CIF NorCal Division V Regional Championship in Watsonville on June 4. and Sugar Shack Cafe owner Michele Turner. SANTA CRUZ NATIVE NATA- LIA GROSSMAN CLIMBS TO A NOT H E R GOLD, SEASON TITLE » Santa Cruz native Natalia Grossman, 20, won gold in the women's boul- der competition at the In- ternational Federation of Sport Climbing World Cup in Innsbruck, Austria, on June 24. Her fifth straight boul- der gold helped her secure the overall 2022 IFSC Boul- der World Cup title with 5,000 points. "It hasn't even sunk in really. I'm speechless!" said Grossman, after taking the season title. APTOS ALUM JARED KOENIG MAKES MLB DEBUT AGAINST DEFENDING WORLD SERIES CHAMPS » Oakland A's rookie pitcher Jared Koe- nig, a 28-year-old Aptos High alum, enjoyed nearly every second of his MLB debut at Truist Park in At- lanta on June 8 — even when he was yanked. A nd why not? Even though he and the A's were on the wrong end of a 13-2 loss to the defend- ing World Series champion Braves, Koenig worked his whole life to get a taste of the bigs. "The dream was fulfilled for sure," Koenig said. SANTA CRUZ SURFER NAT YOUNG STAYS ON CHAMPI- ONSHIP TOUR » Santa Cruz surfer Nat Young survived the midseason cut and finished ranked No. 17 on the World Surf League's 10-event Championship Tour season with 25,335 points. His showing helped him remain on the CT for the 2023 season. SCOTTS VALLEY'S JEREMY KAIN BREEZES TO SECOND AT CIF STATE TRACK AND FI E LD CH AM PIONSH I PS » Heralded distance runner Kain lost his voice ahead of the 102nd CIF State Track and Field Championships. But , thank goodness, he didn't lose his speed, strength or stamina after graduating from Scotts Valley High on May 26. Kain took second in the boys' 1,600-meter race in front of a near-capacity crowd at Buchanan High's Veterans Memorial Sta- dium on a windy May 28 evening that quickly went from warm to cold as the sun set. He finished in 4 min- utes, 11.40 seconds, a little more than three seconds off his school-record mark of 4:07.77, set earlier in the season. The Duke University committed runner added his name next to four other individual school re- cords in track and field last spring, setting or break- ing his previous marks in the 800 (1:51.32), 1,500 (3:52.04), mile (4:09.34), and 3,200 (9:11.97). He won CCS titles in both the 800 and 1,600 in the spring. TSUNAMI FORCES CANCEL- LATION OF SURF EVENTS » A tsunami, the result of an undersea volcano eruption in the Pacific Ocean near Tonga early Jan. 16, forced the cancellation of Day 1 of the USA Surfing Prime Steamer Lane. Surfers were in the wa- ter for a Santa Cruz Scho- lastic Surf League event at Pleasure Point when one of the surges hit, creating havoc as they successfully emerged from the water. The event was later can- celed. SCOTTS VALLEY'S KAITLIN IMAI DRAINS CCS RECORD 13 3-POINTERS » Scotts Valley High senior Kaitlin Imai put on an electrifying, re- cord-setting shooting dis- play in the Falcons' 72-56 loss to Santa Cruz on Jan. 21. It will not be forgotten anytime soon. The Cardi- nals, the defending SCCAL and CCS D-III champion, may have won the league game, but Imai was the talk of the town at game's end. Imai buried a CCS single- game record 13 3-pointers and finished with a school- record 44 points. Sports FROM PAGE 6 SHMUEL THALER — SENTINEL A busy time between classes at the 400 Building at Cabrillo College in August. San Lorenzo Valley Rotary 2022 Year in Review We've had another busy, rewarding year partnering with Redwood Mountain Faire, Roaring Camp, Quail Hollow, MCT, Felton Community Hall, Grey Bears and Mountain Parks Foundation. Through the generous support of our partners, SLV School District, SLV Parent Groups, Scotts Valley Target and Round Table Pizza we were able to provide 15 local children with funds to treat their families to a Holiday Shopping Spree! Our motto is "Service Above Self" and we prove it every week. Please join us at SLVROTARYCLUB.ORG to learn about our weekly meetings at the SLVUSD Board Room and Scopazzi's. You can help us set another record year for service projects. There is no feeling quite as satisfying as serving a community that shows its gratitude in many heartfelt ways. Lobster Feed Holiday Shopping "Rotary to the Rescue" Reenactment Coastal Cleanup Day Click Here to see ways you can help! SLVROTARYCLUB.ORG SATURDAY, DECEMBER 31, 2022 SANTACRUZSENTINEL.COM | | 7 C

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