Campus honors Displaced Aurarians
Thirty-three years ago 155 Auraria families were told to pack their belongings and go. Most of the homes they’d known for generations were plowed under; others became offices and learning facilities on the newly-born Auraria Campus. While nothing can truly compensate for the tumultuous consequences of dividing a community, the commitment to educate displaced Aurarians and their children, along with a rock monument in beautiful 9th Street Park, reduces the pain.
On May 4, about 100 people joined speaker and city auditor Dennis Gallagher, family members of displaced Aurarians and representatives of the three institutions sharing the Auraria Campus to reflect on the past and look to the future.
Representing UCD, Frank Sanchez, associate vice chancellor for enrollment and student engagement, told the participants that the memorial forms a bridge from the past to the present that will never be forgotten. “The bridge allows the university to provide an education to all displaced Aurarians for generations to come. Con este Puente, hemos comenzado a salir de las Sombras. Gloria Anzaldua.” (With this Bridge, we have begun to come out of the Shadows.)
Since 1997, the university has given $463,391 in scholarships to 50 displaced Aurarians and their children. In the 2006-2007 academic year, the university gave $128,166 in scholarships to 20-25 students.
The plaque, unveiled by tri-institutional representatives Sanchez, Metro State President Stephen Jordan, CCD President Christine Johnson, and Gallagher, bears a quote by composer Daniel Valdez: “They come to the park to sit down and talk of the Westside of Denver; they still reminisce of the places they missed.”