Celebrating Cesar Chavez
Campus events aim to remember, educate students about human rights struggles
By Tegan Silva
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Published: Wednesday, March 31, 2010
Updated: Tuesday, March 30, 2010
Allen Broome
Chico Alumni Osiris Gomez [left] and Leah Arreguin [right] portray the struggle of Hispanic farmworkers at Thursday’s celebration of Cesar Chavez at the Cross Cultural Leadership Center.
Students have been working hard this past week to commemorate Cesar Chavez and his efforts to improve civil rights for Latinos and farm workers.
“The Heart of One, The Leader of Many,” an event put on by the Cross Cultural Leadership Center on Thursday, was geared toward educating students and faculty members about Chavez’s impact in California and the rest of the country, said senior Jeannine DeAguinaga,
para-professional at the CCLC.
Chavez’s birthday should be a time to celebrate and educate, DeAguinaga said. The Latino and Mexican culture is disgraced through the drinking that takes place on the holiday.
“I think that it’s important to celebrate Cesar Chavez in a more dignified way instead of going out and drinking and partying,” DeAguinaga said.
Understanding the level of significance Cesar Chavez Day has in California is difficult after moving here from out of state, said marketing major Andria Johannes.
“I know that he was an influential figure, but I know Chico uses it as a time to drink,” Johannes said.
Marc Grossman, Chavez’s press secretary, speechwriter and personal aide and speaker at Thursday’s event, hoped to enlighten students on Chavez’s achievements.
Chavez resigned in 1962 from his position as the national director of the Community Service Organization, a Latino civil rights group, to establish the National Farm Workers Association, which would later become the United Farm Workers of America, Grossman said.
“Founding the union was a leap a faith,” he said. “Not just because the odds were against him, but because he still had serious doubts about whether he could do it.”
Chavez was greatly influenced by Mahatma Gandhi and firmly believed in non-violent approaches such as fasting, Grossman said.
Chavez nearly died after fasting for five weeks and losing more than 35 pounds, Grossman said. The fast garnered support from Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert F. Kennedy.
“Cesar didn’t teach by lecturing people or telling them what to do,” Grossman said. “He taught by example.”
How Chavez viewed and treated others was a key to his success, Grossman said. Chavez knew his job as an organizer was to help ordinary people do extraordinary things.
“He made everybody, especially farm workers, believe that their job was important,” Grossman said. “That they were making an important contribution to the movement.”
The annual March 31 holiday is celebrated in California and seven other states, Grossman said. Chavez would not have wanted his name branded on buildings or days, but it’s important for educating others.
“The greatest monument of Cesar Chavez is not on a street sign or in concrete,” Grossman said. “It’s in the courage to work for change.”
Tegan Silva can be reached at
tsilva@theorion.com
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