Dedicated to Marisa Rosado…
In 2017, I was provided with the phone number for Marisa Rosado, author of “Pedro Albizu Campos Las Llamas de La Aurora.” I had read her book numerous times and wanted to discuss a project, an idea I had in mind. During our first conversation, I explained to her that I had read her book and many others, and they all repeated the same information about Pedro Albizu Campos’ university student years. I explained to Marisa that there must be more to know about this time period and place his student years within a well-researched, in-depth context. Marisa Rosado agreed that research about this important aspect of his life was needed and that there was more that could be known about this time period. She then proceeded to provide me with the names and phone numbers of others I should contact who may assist in this endeavor. The research and educational project I had in mind would seek to understand Pedro Albizu Campos as a student, as a young man, as a human, and as someone who was self-defining during his university years.
Marisa Rosado passed away in January 2020. The Covid pandemic reached global proportions by March 2020, and the Harvard University Archives were closed for a while. The project did not come together until 2022. Marisa was fully aware that public access to archival material became available with time. As a scholar and researcher, she remained attentive to what the passage of time would bring. Neither of us knew, when we spoke that the passage of time had made more material from Albizu’s archival documents from Harvard University publicly available.
The “Pedro Albizu Campos Digital Resource Collection” is dedicated to Marisa Rosado, a team member and mentor, no less, for her support, blessings, and affirmation. We never had the opportunity to meet personally, but we were united in the spirit of the love and admiration of Pedro Albizu Campos and his historical legacy.
Dr. Daniel Ibarrondo Cruz, Executive Director, PAC-DRC
Ponce Grammar School (Circa 1909). Pedro Campos, seated in the middle, was class president.
Dr. Daniel Ibarrondo Cruz
Dr. Daniel Ibarrondo Cruz is currently researching primary sources for two forthcoming books: Pedro Albizu Campos – The Harvard University Documents, an illustrated photo book that will be published in print editions in English and Spanish, and Pedro Albizu Campos 1893 - 1923 Formative Years (Años Formativos). This seminal book is an in-depth scholarly study of Pedro Albizu Campos from birth through his early education and formative university student years up to the official conferral of his Harvard Law School degree in February 1923. When published in 2025, both books will be available in print editions in English and Spanish. Dr. Ibarrondo Cruz has studied Pedro Albizu Campos for decades and the history of Puerto Rico, starting during his high school year at CROEM in Mayagüez. He is currently a professor of constitutional law, business law, cyberlaw, school law, government, international relations, political science, research methods, educational technology, DEIB, and education.
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His activism in Puerto Rico’s independence movement, human rights, and social justice commenced in high school in Mayaguez during the summer of the Cerro Maravilla murders when two pro-independence activists, Carlos Enrique Soto Arrivi (1959-1978) and Arnaldo Dario Rosado Torres (1953-1978), were murdered. Leaving his studies at the University of Puerto Rico - Mayagüez Campus, he continued his undergraduate years at Fordham University while interning at the United Nations Social and Economic Development Council, monitoring multinational investments in South Africa during the apartheid regime. During this period, he also interned in Washington, D.C. at the Latin American Human Rights Association (ALDHU - Asociación Latinoamericana de Derechos Humanos), under the leadership of Juan Raúl Ferreira Sienra (Uruguay’s human rights leader), where he monitored human rights violations in Latin America and served to represent ALDHU at the Organization of American States (OAS). In D.C., he organized seminars on the status of Puerto Rico sponsored by The Washington Office on Latin America (WOLA) and The Honorable Ronald V. Dellums, U.S. Representative.
Dr. Ibarrondo Cruz has a Doctorate in Education (Ed.D.) degree in Educational Technologies from Pepperdine University, a Juris Doctor (J.D.) degree from the State University of New York at Buffalo School of Law, an Educational Specialist (Ed.S.) degree in Bilingual/Bicultural Education from Seton Hall University, and a Bachelor of Arts degree (B.A.) from Fordham University with a major in Political Science and a minor in Puerto Rican Studies. He is also a member of the Harvard University Graduate School of Education– Institute of Education Management (IEM) Class of 2005. Upon graduation from law school, he was awarded the law school faculty’s Dale S. Margulies Award for Leadership in the Law School and the Community, the Legal Methods Award, and the American Bar Association Journalism Award. His awards also include a proclamation issued by the Brooklyn Borough President honoring his community educational leadership, awarded Fordham University’s Higher Education Opportunity Program (HEOP) Distinguished Alumni Award, and is a member of the Instructional Technology Council's (ITC) Leadership Academy.
Dr. Ibarrondo enjoys spending time in his hometown of Mayagüez and the island's west coast, the beaches of Puerto Rico, nature, art, poetry, travel, storytelling, and writing. He is deeply committed to equity in all spaces and socio-economic justice. Connect with Dr. Ibarrondo at his portfolio or on LinkedIn.