Bobby 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.

Yoli Ríos

Community Rights Activist 

This center is dedicated to Yoli Ríos in honor of her tireless dedication and advocacy for educational attainment for Latinx students. As a mentor, she continues to inspire new generations of students to pursue their educational goals.

We are grateful for her mentorship at the Latino Leadership and College Experience Camp and for her support of Latino students and educators at Eastern Kentucky University.

Yoli Ríos is a Labor Representative with the California Nurses Association.

Ríos is a graduate of Lincoln High School in East Los Angeles and was amongst the less than 3% of Chican@/Latin@s who were selected to attend Girls’ State in 1965 She was the first Chicana to receive a full scholarship to the prestigious Immaculate Heart College in 1968.

Ríos has many years of experience as a community activist and in the labor movement. In 1995 she was elected Secretary-Treasurer of SEIU Local 399 along with a slate of hospital workers and janitors, which sparked a democratic reform campaign within the Union. For twenty years she represented over 3000 Nurses at the UCLA Medical Center. Her work with CNA has been featured in the press, particularly the struggle against former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s cuts and attacks against workers, the schools, the health system and the poor in California. The California Nurses Association was the first labor organization to endorse Senator Bernie Sanders’ campaign for President of the United States. As the labor organizer at UCLA, Ríos lead the nurses to actively engage in all aspects of the Sanders campaign.

Ríos was featured in the critically acclaimed documentary, "CHICANO- The History of the Mexican American Civil Rights Movement", which aired on PBS television. Ríos and her husband, Bobby Verdugo, were characters portrayed in the 2006 HBO movie, “Walkout”, a film about the historic 1968 High School Walkouts of East Los Angeles. Ríos and Verdugo were high school sweethearts and have been together since 1968. They are proud parents of two daughters, Monica and Maricela.