Celebrating Legacy, Building Community: The Larry T. Baza Memorial Scholarship Fund

By Nicole Verdes

In 2022, Lambda Archives launched the Larry T. Baza Memorial Scholarship Fund, a scholarship program designed to uplift local students attending community colleges or trade schools who embody the intersectional identities that Larry held dear. Specifically, the scholarship supports students who are both LGBTQ+ and Latinx, Chicano/a/x, or Chamorro/CHamoru These are identities that Larry not only embraced with pride, but that fundamentally shaped his leadership and vision.

Larry’s own words, captured in a 1991 piece by Jeri Dilno when he became Executive Director of the Centro Cultural de la Raza, illuminate how deeply his multicultural heritage informed his work:

“Those were all important stages of my development. Because my heritage is both Asian and Latino there was a time in my life when I felt like an outsider. That gave me a different perspective. So, it’s kind of ‘coming home.’ Having been through all the transitions. I hope that if I bring anything here it’s some experience I’m bringing ‘home.’ It’s time to bring the skills that I learned, the alliances I’ve made, to bring that ‘home’ for use by the Latino community and the Native American community which this place really seeks to serve.”

Honoring Through Action

The scholarship represents more than financial support; it is a deliberate investment in future leaders who show promise of following in Larry’s footsteps. To date, Lambda Archives has distributed $15,000 to local students, with an additional $5,000 planned for distribution at this year’s Larry T. Baza Memorial Scholarship and Pride Kickoff event.

The annual celebration itself has evolved into a powerful tribute to Larry’s life and impact, bringing together voices that reflect the communities he championed. Past keynote speakers have included local queer CHamoru community members like Joe Fejeran and MG Green, who have shared personal connections to their heritage while delivering messages of hope and inspiration to scholarship recipients.

Bridging Past and Present

In 2023, Joe Fejeran’s keynote address exemplified the scholarship’s mission of connecting historical understanding with contemporary action. In preparing for his remarks, Joe conducted genealogical research through the Micronesia Area Research Center (MARC) at the University of Guam, which houses over 40,000 volumes of resource materials on Guam and Micronesia, plus more than 100,000 pages of colonial Spanish documents. Working with MARC archivists, Joe traced the genealogy of Larry’s father, discovering a 1897 Spanish colonial census which showed the first written record of Larry’s CHamoru ancestors.

Reflecting on this historical document, Joe shared:

“This document reaches out from history and to touch both of Larry’s cultural/ethnic identities. The effects of colonialism and imperialism are deeply rooted in the CHamoru and Chicano cultures. This impacted Larry’s art and activism, as well as his experience of his queer identity. Larry understood that representation matters. Queer stories. Chicano stories. CHamoru stories. All the stories that make up who you are matter. And expressions of these stories through the arts not only makes people feel seen, but also has the ability to create more empathetic human beings. The more personal a story, the more universal it can feel to an audience.”

Echoes from the Archives

Each year, as Lambda Archives prepares for the scholarship event, we revisit records from our collections that feature Larry’s work. Remarkably, his words from decades past continue to resonate with urgent relevance today. In reflecting on the challenges facing arts funding and cultural representation, Larry observed:

“The arts are in jeopardy because of the recession, and budget cuts hit cultural programs first. We need to say the ethnic arts, the gay and lesbian community needs to be represented. We need to present that work. It needs to exist…we are all behind the eight ball because of the recession and because of the repressive politics in the country. The arts are always the first to go. What frightens me is that these budget restraints will push us into a cultural war. The us-and-them syndrome.

We do work that affects lives. We are often perceived as the frosting on the cake, something that people don’t have to have. We need more programs for the homeless, drugs and education. The arts have been in education for a long time. We need to let people know we have been doing that work. Our work here has always been political. We have a reputation for addressing issues through visual arts. That’s a part of the tradition of our people.”

Even facing funding challenges, Larry remained steadfast in his commitment to artistic freedom and social justice: “We can never suppress the artists and the direction they express themselves in and the issues that they chose to address. The artists we present are often critical of the larger concepts of oppression.”

Join Us in Celebration

This year’s Larry T. Baza Memorial Scholarship and Pride Kickoff event will take place on Wednesday, June 25th at the Clark Cabaret from 5:30 – 7:00 PM. We’re honored to welcome local queer Chicana artist and photographer Lilliana Hueso as our keynote speaker, with Joe Fejeran serving as emcee for the evening.

Please join us as we celebrate this year’s five scholarship recipients while continuing the vital tradition of coming together as a community to remember, honor, and carry forward Larry’s transformative legacy. Together, we ensure that the stories that matter—all the stories that make up who we are—continue to be told, celebrated, and supported.

RSVP for the event here: