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Colin Rodríguez Griswold
With an Irish-American father and a Mexican-American mother, Colin Rodríguez Griswold was bilingual and bicultural. A longtime resident of San Marcos, he spent an equal amount of time on either side of the border and traveled widely in Latin America. He had a deep love for Brazil, and besides speaking fluent Spanish, he was also fluent in Portuguese. While an undergraduate student at UCSD, Colin was also a deejay on a radio program that featured his keen enthusiasm for Rock en Español. Many of you will remember him by his on-air name: “Café con leche.”
While pursuing his Masters Degree in Business Administration at SDSU, Colin worked with the Southwest Consortium for Environmental Research and Policy where he became a leading figure in a project to measure the effects of hazardous wastes and air and water quality in the border region.
Working with government officials in Mexico City, the Pan American Health Organization, and local townspeople, this then 23-year-old developed ways of measuring and improving health along the entire U.S./Mexico border. A week after he was killed, the U.S. and Mexican governments met in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, to adopt a series of protocols largely created by this young man.At the time of his death, Colin was pursuing a PhD in Management and Public Policy at the University of Arizona. Saddened by the environmental impacts of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), Colin was positioning himself to play a leading role in improving environmental conditions when the Central American and Latin American Free Trade Agreements (CAFTA and LAFTA) come to be negotiated in the future.
The loss of this wonderful and dedicated young man has, of course, brought deep sorrow to his family and friends. To continue the work he began, they have created the “Colin Rodríguez Griswold Memorial Fund” with the Environmental Health Coalition in order to subsidize internships for high-school and college students living on either side of the border and concerned with environmental issues.
Colin Rodríguez Griswold died in a car accident in Tucson, early in the morning of January 22, 2005. He was struck by a speeding car that ran a stop sign following a police chase. Colin, 25 years old, died instantly at the scene. This tragedy ended the life of a promising young man who was deeply involved with environmental issues along the U.S./Mexico border.
Colin Rodríguez Griswold
1979-2005
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