Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo was not involved in sex trafficking, slavery, and the genocide of indigenous people in California, according to Southern California historian Iris Engstrand, who delivered the first in a series of lectures about renaming Cabrillo College.

Engstrand, who holds a doctorate in history from the University of Southern California, held an open and contentious public Zoom meeting on March 18 to discuss possible name changes. The meeting was so controversial that afterward Cabrillo President Matthew Wetstein apologized for inviting the historian.

Wetstein said Engstrand “shared a portrayal of Cabrillo that painted a portrait of him as an historic savior and explorer, her portrayal neglected to give credence to widely-held historic beliefs that his roles in Cuba and

Mexico led to what would be the modern-day equivalent of cultural genocide, sex trafficking, and slave ownership.” The letter was also signed by trustees Christina Cuevas, Adam Spickler, and Rachael Spencer. 

“Dr. Engstrand was invited to present an unbiased, historic portrayal of Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo,” Wetstein said “When asked questions about these aspects of Cabrillo’s role in the conquests of Cuba, Mexico and Central America, Dr. Engstrand not only denied these categorizations of his behavior, she defended these aspects of Cabrillo’s behavior specifically, and Spanish rule in general, through a lens of white supremacy and Eurocentrism.”

Wetstein said, “Aside from cutting the lecturer’s question and answer period off well before the planned end time, we acknowledge that our Name Exploration Subcommittee fell short of our goal to begin this series as intended—with an unbiased, fully formed, nuanced and sensitive portrayal of the life of Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo.”

Engstrand’s presentation was the first in a series of six Zoom lectures focused on the name change issue.