For Immediate Release
May 23, 2008

Redwood City Student Receives $20,000 Scholarship to UC Santa Cruz

Cynthia Cruz is the third Cañada College student to receive the Karl S. Pister Scholarship in the past three years.

Redwood City resident Cynthia Cruz has received the 2008 Karl S. Pister Leadership Opportunity Program Award, a $20,000 scholarship that will help her study sociology and pursue a career in community organizing.

Cruz plans to enroll at UC Santa Cruz in the fall. The Pister scholarship was established to help the most promising students from regional community colleges transfer to UCSC. All recipients receive a $10,000 scholarship for each of two years, as well as the support of a strong academic mentoring program and assistance finding paid summer work experience in a field that complements their studies. Former UCSC Chancellor Karl S. Pister designed the program. Cruz is one of 11 community college students receiving the scholarship this year.

To earn the scholarship, Cruz had to overcome a difficult childhood that included drug use and unhealthy eating habits. “I grew up without a father and I lacked self esteem which led me into a self-destructive path,” she said. “I struggled with these issues without any significant support.”

Cruz grew up in the low-income Fair Oaks neighborhood of Redwood City. Her mother worked long hours and Cruz took it upon herself to raise her younger siblings. “These experiences have made me into the person I am today,” she said.

Cañada College President Tom Mohr said Cruz is an inspiration to other students. “She has overcome immense obstacles to an education which would have been far too daunting for most other people in our society,” he said. “She has acquired this level of education entirely on her own initiative, without family assistance or any of the usual support mechanisms of a functioning family. Her return from a period of self-destructive activities, through sheer determination and resolve, is absolutely remarkable.”

Cruz said she draws strength from her passion for social and environmental justice and her commitment to community organizing.

“Since I was 14, I have been involved with various organizations within my community and neighboring cities,” she said. For the past three years, she has been working with Youth United for Community Action (YUCA) and helped spearhead the group’s opposition to a hazardous waste facility in East Palo Alto. “I have been engaged in endless meetings with lawyers, monitoring agencies, citywide rallies and co-strategizing with other organizations within the city and around the Bay Area,” she said. “When we were able to shut the plant down in 2007, it was one of my proudest moments.”

Cruz said she wants to earn her degree and begin a career in research helping low-income neighborhoods.

For more information, contact Robert Hood, Director of Marketing and Public Relations, at hoodr@smccd.edu or 306-3340