On October 28th, the Chicana and Chicano Studies Department awarded the first four Ismael "Mayo" de la Rocha Scholars during a ceremony at the Mosher Alumni House with UCSB Alumnus and scholarship organizer Castulo de la Rocha and his wife Zoila Escobar. The awardees are the first to receive the newly created Ismael "Mayo" de la Rocha Scholarship initiated in Fall 2021, and this award provides direct financial assistance to first-generation working class Latinx college students who demonstrate a commitment to social justice community involvement and activism. 

The following people who were awarded the certificate are: 

• Juana Martinez
• Cindy E. Sanchez
• Diego Lazcano Avila
• Juan Bran-Gudiel

The department thanks the scholarship organizers Castulo de la Rocha and Zoila Escobar for providing this opportunity to our department undergraduates. The department also thanks Professors Juanita Garcia, Celia Herrera Rodriguez, and Undergraduate Staff Advisor Roy Gonzalez who were part of the selection committee. We also thank Rocío Torres, the Director of Development at the Division of Social Sciences, and the Department Chair Dr. Ralph Armbruster-Sandoval.

The Chicana and Chicano Studies Department also extends our most heartfelt gratitude to the many donors who contributed to the scholarship and whom their support means ensuring that our present and future undergraduate students in the Chicana and Chicano Studies major will stay in school to complete their degree.