The Observer, April 14, 2006
Volume XXXVIII, Issue 24
Doc Oc memorial long overdue
One year ago next month marks the university's loss of one of its greatest, most influential teaching professors. Professor Ignacio "Doc Oc" Ocasio passed away on May 14, leaving behind a legacy 30 years in the making. As of yet, no permanent memorial have been established in his honor. Despite the lack of university-recognized dedications, students have made small gestures commemorating Doc. The Spirit Rock, located on Northside, has been one of these temporary monuments – reading Descanza en Paz, Doc – since the day of his death. The rock, used for announcing student events, has since been painted over on multiple occasions. However, each new message has been accompanied by a shout-out to Doc, thus keeping his memory alive.
For the last few months this has seemed a suitable arrangement until a more-permanent fixture was established. However, as the year comes to a close, the reality of the situation is that after two or three more years, the part of his legacy that involves students will come to an end.
While this may seem like a pessimistic idea – that his memory will fade out as his students graduate – it does bring up the question of how soon we will see a memorial for Doc on this campus. Nearly a year has passed since the scholarship fund was started and several committees charged with the task of creating a memorial were established. Since then, no visible progress has been made, and it seems that the task had lost its home base somewhere throughout the year. At this point, it has finally fallen into the hands of a responsible leader, Chris Butler. Perhaps under his direction, Doc Oc's memorial will be more than words painted on a rock.
There are many suitable places for a Doc memorial. The still not-landscaped Binary Walkway is close to both Millis and the Hudson Relay memorial – both associated with Doc. The Case Quad – buzzing with scads of his students at this time of year – is also a prime location.
There is no doubt that this man was so close to the heart of this university., and he deserves to be recognized as such. There are few events that bring together the campus community in this manner – alumni included – the blogs, the "Live Like Doc" philosophy, and the Facebook group are all testaments to the lasting impact of his life and death on this university. Even now, his recent posthumous Jackson Award win demonstrates the loyalty that his students and colleagues alike still have for him.
After a certain point, Doc's students will no longer be here to commemorate him with chalk or paint, and it is for that reason that something should be set in stone – long before the next anniversary. We owe that much to Doc.
