Displaced Aurarian Scholarship Program

In 1926, the original St. Cajetan’s Catholic Church was built at Ninth and Lawrence Streets to provide a place of worship and a sense of belonging to a thriving Latino/Chicano community who chose to make Auraria home for themselves and their future generations. The lives of the Latino/Chicano people in Auraria revolved around their church. Not having a public institution where they could socialize and unite in the community, St. Cajetan’s Catholic Church became that place where religious, secular, and social events and holidays were hosted. St. Cajetan’s also offered a school and credit for the Latino/Chicano community1.

Over the years new generations grew up together, becoming a close-knit group able to accomplish things collectively that might not otherwise have been done.

For over fifty years, Auraria was home to three generations of Mexican American families. Families who cared for one another lived, worked, celebrated, operated businesses, worshiped, and established a rich history that cannot be ignored or forgotten. Displaced Aurarian residents remember their own fire department, Mexican restaurants, grocery store, credit union, barber, community health center, Catholic Church, and so much more.

In the early 1970s, the unity within the community was broken when forced displacement caused individuals and families to be relocated to different sections of Denver for the development of the Auraria Higher Education Center (AHEC). Some residents remember a city official stating that the entire community would be relocated together. That did not happen2. The families were also promised, “that if you move out and we build this campus, all your kids are going to be able to go to college here”3

The land is now occupied by three higher education institutions, Metropolitan State University of Denver, Community College of Denver, and University of Colorado at Denver, and owned by AHEC. After more than three decades, these institutions, Las Tres Hermanas, have heard and responded to the rich oral history of the close-knit West side familias and community of early Auraria. Moreover, the Colorado General Assembly passed House Bill 22-1393 which appropriates $2 million from the general fund to distribute equally to MSU Denver, CU Denver, and Community College of Denver (CCD) to fully fund scholarships to displaced Aurarian descendants.

MSU Denver pledged to remember the history and honor the intergenerational legacy de la corazon y espiritu de la gente de Auraria. As stated in their 2030 Strategic Plan, University leaders and the MSU Denver community recognize the displacement of over 1200 predominately Latino/Chicano families and individuals from mainly working-class Latino/Chicano residents by offering funds for tuition and fees “for those displaced, along with their children and grandchildren.”