Bobby Lee Verdugo
Civil Rights Activist
This center is dedicated to Bobby Lee Verdugo in honor of his tireless dedication and advocacy for educational attainment for Latinx students. As a mentor, he continues to inspire new generations of students to pursue their educational goals.
We are grateful for his mentorship at the Latino Leadership and College Experience Camp and for his support of Latinx students and educators at Eastern Kentucky University.
Bobby Lee Verdugo is a Chicano civil rights activist from Lincoln Heights, California.
Verdugo grew up in East Los Angeles in the 1960’s, a time where Latinos and Chicanos were not encouraged to continue their education and often faced discrimination. He was a leader of the historic 1968 high school walkouts of East Los Angeles, a student-led effort to bring education reform to the disenfranchised schools on the Eastside. In addition to education and policy improvements, the walkouts brought about a remarkable increase in Chicano enrollment at UCLA. In 1967, only 40 Latinx and Chicano students were enrolled; however, by 1969 that number increased to 1,200 students.
Verdugo’s leadership in the walkouts were portrayed in the HBO docudrama “Walkout.”. He is also featured in the critically acclaimed PBS documentary “CHICANO –The History of the Mexican American Civil Rights Movement."
Verdugo is a Senior Education/La Educación Specialist with the National Compadres Network, where he encourages and supports the positive involvement of Latino males as fathers, sons, grandfathers, brothers, compadres, partners, and mentors in their families and community. After 1968, he continued to advocate on behalf of the Latinx community nationwide.
Often traveling to Kentucky, Verdugo mentors and inspires students in the Latino Leadership and College Experience Camp, a camp sponsored by both Bluegrass Community and Technical College and Eastern Kentucky University. The camp helps young Latinx high school students transition to college and learn about the diversity of Latinx heritage. Verdugo encourages students to continue their education and advocacy by sharing the message that the work of his generation lives on in them.