May Newsletter

Welcome to The Scuttle’s May Newsletter! Here you can read about details for graduation, the graduating class, and the transitions happening inside the Scuttle’s team. We’re so happy you’re here and hope you enjoy!

Graduation Ceremony Information

An in-person graduation ceremony will be held on Friday, May 30 at 4:00 p.m., at the Carl Conely Stadium, Cabrillo College, 6500 Soquel Drive, Aptos.

Cabrillo’s Graduation and Transfer Ceremony will begin with a processional of the Governing Board, Faculty, and Staff, and members of the Graduating Class of 2025, followed by a welcome from Vice President of Student Services Dr. Blanca Baltazar-Sabbah. The Cabrillo Chorale, under the direction of Cheryl Anderson, will perform the National Anthem. Cabrillo College President and Superintendent Dr. Matthew Wetstein, Cabrillo Faculty Senate President Dr. Victoria Bañales, and Cabrillo Classified Employees Union (CCEU) President Tasha Sturm will give their congratulatory remarks to the Cabrillo College Class of 2025.

President of the Student Senate Mia Nachazelova and Student Trustee Cody Jarvis will share their experiences and will give their congratulatory remarks to the Graduating Class of 2025. Dr. Travaris Harris, Vice President of Instruction, will present the graduating class of 2025. Cabrillo Board President Christina Cuevas will confer the degrees of Associate in Arts, Associate in Sciences, and Certificates of Achievement and Skills, and will also recognize Cabrillo’s Transfer Students.

About the graduates…

Among the largest graduating classes in Cabrillo’s history, the 66th graduating class is 1,599 students strong. In addition to that, more than 361 graduates and non-graduates will transfer to four-year universities. 

This year, Cabrillo will award…

1,287 A.A. degrees and 578 A.S. degrees.

365 students will graduate with an Associate’s Degree for Transfer

•  Students are transferring widely to competitive universities which include (with information to date): Cal Poly SLO, UCLA, UC Berkeley, UC Davis, UC Irvine, UC San Diego, UC Santa Barbara, and UC Santa Cruz, among others.

312 Certificates of Achievement

56 Skills Certificates

The Cabrillo College Class of 2025 contains…

Graduates ranging in age from 17 (a dual-enrolled high school junior) to 79 years with an average age of 28.

Of the total graduates, 59.8% are females, 37.1% are males, and 1.5% are non-binary.

Approximately 52.5% of this year’s graduating class is Latinx.

A record 330 students who are graduating with a 4.0 Grade Point Average (GPA)

252 students graduating with high honors (3.75-3.99 GPA)

300 students graduating with honors (3.5-3.74 GPA)

544 students graduating with honorable mentions (3.0-3.49 GPA)

31 students graduating as Honors Scholars, students who have completed all required courses for transfer to a four-year college or university, and at least 15 units of honors coursework with a GPA of 3.4 or higher.

Scholarship Recipients

Peggy and Jack Baskin

The Peggy and Jack Baskin Award is given each year to a Cabrillo graduate in the Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) fields. This year’s recipient of the Peggy and Jack Baskin Scholarship Award is Abigail L. Hinds. Congratulations Abigail!

Karl S. Pister

The UC Santa Cruz (UCSC) Karl S. Pister award is an up to $20,000 scholarship given to a Cabrillo Student planning to transfer to UCSC. This year’s Pister Scholarship winner is Renee DeLisle. Congratulations Renee!

A word from Cabrillo President and Superintendent, Dr. Matt Wetstein:

“I’m incredibly proud of our students. Not only do we have one of the largest graduating classes in recent history, but we have our first class of graduates from Cabrillo’s Apprenticeship Program, who will enter the workforce in high-demand fields of Healthcare and Computer and Information Systems. This milestone underscores how community colleges continue to be the workforce engine of California and our nation.”

Scuttle Journalist & Editors Emma Spath and Olivia McCloskey are among this year’s graduating class. They will be leaving the Scuttle in the capable hands of Emma Marcopolus and Isabella Belvins. Congratulations Emma S., Olivia, Emma M., and Isabella!

We’d like to take a moment to hear about the experiences of our parting journalist and editors, and introduce you to the new members of the team!

Emma’s Experience With Cabrillo, Parting Words to Readers

I came to Cabrillo like so many others - lost, unsure of what I was looking for, and uncertain that this was the right path. I hadn’t been to school in nearly 4 years, and the last time I was there school had been entirely online, I was labeled a “truant”, and only graduated by the skin of my teeth. Needless to say, I was not enthusiastic about school - and I never thought I would return. But after taking a few years off to work, travel, and experience being unencumbered by school for the first time…I realized that I was craving a greater purpose in life. I wanted to be intellectually stimulated, have more strucured days and a direction in life. In search of meaning and academia, I came to Cabrillo. This was the start of a total shift in my life. Since then, everything has changed. 

My first class was Intro to Philosophy, with Michael B. Jordan - a class I took mostly because I thought his name was funny. I wanted to tell people that my professor was Michael B. Jordan. No, not the basketball player…no not the actor…the professor of philosophy. At the time I was a psychology major, after all I had always said it was the only thing I would ever consider studying, because it was the only thing I found interesting. I saw it as the best way of making sense of the world around me. If I could understand more about the psychological processes in the brain, I could understand the people around me…maybe I could even understand myself. But when I walked into Michael B. Jordan’s Intro To Philosophy class, it was exactly the college experience I had envisioned - a typical, lecture style hall, a picture of the Parthenon projected on the screen, and a seat in the second-to-front row just waiting for me. Professor Jordan explained that philosophy, literally translated from Ancient Greek, means the “love of wisdom.” Philosophy is the study of knowledge. It asks and attempts to answer the fundamental questions about reality, knowledge, ethics and the meaning of existence. Studying philosophy allows one to study interdisciplinary topics - exploring science, art, and spirituality through critical thinking, communication, and integrative readings from some of the most influential thinkers throughout history. After the first day, I walked out of the class vibrating with a sense of excitement, inspiration, and security in knowing that this was where I was meant to be, and this is what I was meant to be doing. Over time, my passion for philosophy grew, and my interest in psychology dwindled. I realized that what I loved about psychology was really an outlet to foster curiosity about the nature of the self, others, and the world…which was much better satisfied by my philosophy class. It didn’t take me long to change my major to philosophy - I had thoroughly fallen in love! Since then so many opportunities have become available to me. 

Firstly, I got the incredible opportunity to work as a journalist and editor for the student newsletter. My friend Olivia and I were given the incredible opportunity to be journalists/editors with the Scuttle - Cabrillo’s Student Led newsletter, created by and for students. We advocated for social justice issues, highlighted student voices, and informed and inspired our peers to become more involved with campus initiatives. Through the Scuttle, I learned so much about on campus happenings that would’ve otherwise slipped me by. I participated in farmer’s markets, horticulture sales, in person voting groups, self care and mindfulness activities, student health services, local festivals, charitable events, and more through the Scuttle. I also learned about so many things happening behind the scenes at Cabrillo, that I never would’ve known about if it weren’t for the Scuttle. I learned and wrote about the funding formula for community colleges and its effects on institutions of education like Cabrillo; our status as a Hispanic Serving Institution; our status as the best community college in the state; the efforts of equity and inclusion on campus, such as the rising scholars or guardian scholars programs; the value of equity in institutions of higher education; sustainability efforts on and off campus; and so much more. I made connections with people I otherwise would’ve never met, and grew in ways I never thought possible. I improved my writing, website development, graphic design, communication, and so many other skills. I was able to do it all alongside one of my greatest friends at Cabrillo - and getting to help each other grow was absolutely incredible. It was so empowering working as a team, and watching each other grow in so many ways was truly life changing. Through the Scuttle, my passion for school grew exponentially, it is one of my proudest accomplishments. 

Speaking of proudest accomplishments…I also got to compete on Cabrillo’s Ethics Bowl Team. The Ethics Bowl provides students with the opportunity to prepare for Regional (and, if qualifying, National) competition in which they engage in debate-style collegial discussion of real world ethical dilemmas. I first heard about the Ethics Bowl when - you guessed it - Professor Michael B. Jordan spoke about it in class. He was the coach of the San Jose State Ethics Bowl team during my first semester at Cabrillo, who qualified for Nationals that semester (Fall, 2023). When I learned about what the Ethics Bowl was, I was thoroughly inspired and couldn’t wait to participate! I found out that Cabrillo had an Ethics Bowl team, and quickly got in contact with their coach. However, I was met with disappointing news - the Ethics Bowl had since been cut from the curriculum, and was no longer going to be offered. I, along with many of my classmates, wasn’t willing to accept this - and luckily for us, neither was the Philosophy department chair and Ethics Bowl coach, Claudia Close. With her support, we got over 20 students to participate in the Cabrillo College Ethics Bowl the following year, beginning in the Fall of 2024. Our team met nearly every day of the week, including 6 hour sessions every Thursday and even weekend meetings. We conducted extensive research into some of the most complex moral conundrums of our time, worked on our team cohesion, communication skills, and strength of our arguments. We worked tirelessly to prepare for the regional competition, where we had two teams competing. Incredibly, we - the only community college present in a competition of well-esteemed universities across the region - placed 4th, thus qualifying for the National competition. We were thrilled to have the honor of representing Cabrillo on the National Stage in Norfolk, Virginia, and preemptively exhausted by the 17 cases we had to prepare with nearly half the time we had to prepare for regionals. The team met over winter break and for the first few weeks of the semester, before finally jetting off to Norfolk, Virginia, to compete among some of the most prestigious universities in the country. Overall, we placed 27th in the Nation and it is one of the proudest accomplishments I have ever achieved. We worked so hard, came so far, and learned so much. It was invigorating, and I realized that I wanted to continue pursuing opportunities to practice applied ethics. I wanted to find educational programs which empower students to think critically, engage fearlessly in complex discussions with respect and civility, and learn how to apply ethics to real life problems to create a better world. Competing in the Ethics Bowl gave me a sense of community, personal empowerment, and a sense of hope for the future. After the National Competition, I just wasn’t ready to let that go. So…I created the Philosophy Club.  

I created The Philosophy Club in the hopes of cultivating an environment in which students could share in the joy of philosophical pontification and rational deliberation. I wanted to carry the feeling philosophy classes and ethics bowl gave me into my last semester at Cabrillo, and ensure that other students (and faculty) saw how valuable it is. Part of the goal of the Philosophy Club was to ensure funding for an Ethics Bowl coach in the Fall Semester of 2025, seeing as our current coach, Claudia Close, is retiring after over 30 years teaching at Cabrillo this Spring. I wanted to do everything I could to create a space where the community I had found could continue on campus, and students could continue making connections with peers and professionals alike through the club. Our meetings weren’t exactly how I envisioned - there was a lot less organization than I expected, and much more passion and disagreement. However - it was a clear indication to me of how important these conversations are. We discussed the ethics of farming octopuses, feminist philosophy, abortion, politics, ethical theories, human nature, whether or not God exists, whether or not anything exists…and so much more. Most of those things came up every single meeting. (Seriously…it was mayhem.) But I am so proud to have created a club which celebrates the love of knowledge, and I hope the club decides to charter next semester. 

*If you are interested in learning more about any of those things, I have included some links below! 

Search the Class Schedule at Cabrillo

The Scuttle 

The Ethics Bowl 

The Philosophy Club 

I am so grateful to have spent the last two years of my life soaking in every moment I could. Not only did the opportunities available to me expand greatly when I began my journey at Cabrillo, but the connections I made with my peers and faculty are ones I will cherish for the rest of my life. I will carry with me the lessons they taught me as I transition into this next phase of my life. To all those I have met and gotten to know over these last few years - thank you. You have touched me, you have changed me, and you have made me better. To all those who I didn’t get the chance to meet, I am so grateful that you are here and so proud to call you my peer. We are living in an incredibly important time, and we are in the very privileged position to be able to benefit from education, support, and community.  Don’t take this opportunity for granted. Take it with gratitude, respect, and dignity. Treat your peers, instructors, faculty, staff members, friends and family with loving compassion, and be grateful for their presence - they have so much to give you. And most importantly - honor yourself through your actions and attitude not only in your life as a student, but through every aspect of life. You have the opportunity to better yourself and those around you with your positive energy, I hope you take it. And if it interests you, maybe take a class with Michael B. Jordan, check out the student newsletter, join the Ethics Bowl or the Philosophy Club…it might just change your life. 

Olivia’s reflection

My time at Cabrillo is a time that I will never forget. This institution has shaped me in ways I can only begin to describe. As an almost failing highschool student who graduated in the middle of COVID, I never saw myself to be the academically oriented person I am now. Starting Cabrillo with one psychology class, I immediately learned I love to learn! The process of putting my head down and trying as hard as I can to understand a nuanced topic was invigorating. After my first semester, I signed up for a near full class load, and have not looked back since. I started with a major in psychology, taking every psych class offered. I found a love for understanding people and how they work, why they do what they do, what drives them, etc. After many psychology classes and a few sociology classes, I heard about a teacher named Nick Rowell, and was urged to take a political science class. Politics were never something that I grew up around, and a topic I had hoped to avoid my whole life as it felt like something that caused arguments, strain within families, and overall disagreements. After Nicks class, my entire perspective changed. I fell in love with the political world, and switched my major almost immediately. Political science is a world of deep critical thinking, analyzing power dynamics and how governments operate and interact with each other. I soon joined the Student Senate, trying to understand a lower level of the political realm. I fell in love yet again with this extracurricular activity, and will look back at my time serving on senate with nothing but gratitude. Meeting people who work with students, who's lives are dedicated to serving students, helping them in any way possible, inspired me beyond belief. I made friends, got connections and saw real time change happen at a table full of students. Students advocating for things like AB1705 and the International Student fees was such a beautiful experience. The voices on student senate are ones that ring through my ears as I enter the next chapter of my life.

Cabrillo has changed me as a person. Writing this newsletter has changed me as a person, being on student senate changed me as a person, participating in ethics bowl and going to nationals changed me as a person. My life would be so different without the opportunities Cabrillo offered me. The respect the staff has for students, the belief my mentors had in me, allowed me to thrive in ways I had never seen possible. My time at Cabrillo has been invaluable. The relationships I've built with those around me taught me how to be a better person with every interaction. Being surrounded by students who were so passionate about the world around them, encouraged the passion in me. I feel more focused, driven, and motivated in my life path. Hearing stories from students who have been to hell and back, still getting an AA from Cabrillo, helped me see how monumental this school is. The fact that people continue to attend here, even when cards of life are against them, is beautiful. The dedication shown by people that have backstories that could make you cry, showed me how important this school is. I felt so connected to so many peers, people did not have perfect upbringings, they did not choose school as their first option, yet here they were, next to me in class, fully engaged in the lecture. I cannot begin to describe the feelings I felt seeing other students be as dedicated to bettering themselves as I am. I fostered a sense of capability within this school, of confidence, the belief that I can do anything I set my mind to. I feel as though the voices of this school are some of the most important voices I have encountered. I hope to see them thrive and grow and change and bring the change this world desperately needs.

After Cabrillo, I will be transferring to UC Davis, where I cannot wait to explore more of what academia has to offer. My time at Cabrillo has prepared for this next stage in life, and my goal is to take each and every lesson with me as I climb up the ladder that is life. I will continue to major in Political Science, and hope to work/ internship within the Capital in Sacramento to fight the fight that is politics. I eventually can see myself returning to Cabrillo, the feelings I have with this place are never going to go away. I would love to stay here, and a part of me is having a lot of trouble leaving such an incredible place, but I understand that it is time to move on. I only can hope that the future students continue to carry out the legacy that current and past students are building and have built, and I have no doubt they will. Cabrillo is a place for everyone, allowing for growth and change deep within a person to come to the surface. Even before I started participating in all the extracurriculars, I felt connected to my teachers. These teachers that care so deeply for their students well being, and are not afraid to show it. Teachers who see and praise students, applauding growth. I will never forget my time here, and come close to crying as I see it all come to an end. I know I am beyond prepared, and cannot wait to see what the future will bring.