Meet Our Scholars
Laith Ocean Rodriguez
Santa Rosa Junior College
Sociology
They/Them
Community College
Big Apple Recreational Sports Scholarship Recipient
Bismark ‘Laith Ocean’ Torrez Rodriguez and is an UndocuQueer non gender conforming Nicaraguan survivor. They arrived in the United States at seven years old as an unaccompanied minor from Nicaragua. They have since been living in Santa Rosa, CA where they were later diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder due to their flashback to the Nicaraguan uprisings, physical and substance abuse, and two sexual assaults. Laith will be one of the first in their family to attend a university. They will be enrolling in UC Berkeley in 2019 after much community support. They are the Lead Organizer for North Bay Immigrant Youth Union, part of California Immigrant Youth Justice Alliance. They have been organizing with the immigrant rights movement for six years and the Trans/Queer Liberation movement for four years. Laith aspires to work with the United Nations to help marginalized communities throughout the globe.