10/16/2003 - UA celebrates César Chávez

UA celebrates César Chávez

10:52 AM MST on Monday, October 13, 2003

By Bob Purvis
© 2003 ARIZONA DAILY STAR

Amid a sea of red United Farm Workers of America flags and chants of "Si se puede," and "Viva César Chávez," the University of Arizona officially renamed the Economics Building in honor of the workers' rights champion Sunday.

UA President Peter Likins unveiled the building's new name in front of a lively crowd of about 500 people.

The building, which is just northwest of Old Main on South Campus Drive, is home to the Mexican-American Studies and Research Center, Chicano/Hispano Student Affairs and the Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics.

"It's about time," said pre-school teacher Carlos Diaz-Todd, who was among the crowd celebrating the name change.

Diaz-Todd takes his class on field trips to the UA every year and he said many of his students' parents have never set foot on the campus. Renaming the building is a step toward making Tucson's Hispanic community feel included at the UA, Diaz-Todd said.

"Now I can take the children here and say, 'Look, this building belongs to you,' " he said.

Students, politicians, union members and civic leaders mingled in the large crowd on the UA campus. Shaking hands and joining each other in song, many held the flags of the farm workers union that Chávez helped found.

Richard Chávez, César Chávez's brother, called it a great day.

"It's a great feeling. I am extremely happy to know it's happening," Chávez said, adding that his brother would be honored to have a place of learning named after him. "He envied it because he never had a formal education . . . but when he talked to students he would always tell them to stay in school because one day they would truly appreciate it."

Founder of the United Farm Workers of America, Chávez was largely credited for bringing farm workers' rights into the national spotlight by using methods of peaceful protest. He led a five-year boycott of table grapes that ended in bargaining agreements with some of California's major growers.

Hispanic students at the UA said the university did the right thing in renaming the building after Chávez, a Yuma native who died at the age of 66 in 1993.

"It gives us a sense of pride in our heritage and in the institution," said student Nathan Olivares-Giles.

Others said the Chávez building is a step toward fulfilling Likins' promise of making the UA a Hispanic-serving institution and raising Hispanic enrollment.

"There is just so much potential out there, but Hispanics feel intimidated," said UA freshman Suzette Marquez, who said she was shocked at the lack of a Hispanic presence when she started school in August.

Six student-members from a UA club called the Students Objectivist Society opposing the name change passed out fliers critical of Chávez and held signs that read "Chávez Heroism a Myth."

Although Chávez supporters argued with the group, university police said the ceremony was without incident.

Community members, some of whom had worked with Chávez during labor strikes and grape boycotts in the 1970s, said the Chávez building will stand as a symbol of inclusiveness for all Hispanics in Tucson.

"We finally can say, 'Yes, there's a building named after César Chávez, a building named after La Raza, a building named after one of us,' " said Pancho Medina who worked with Chávez on several occasions during grape boycotts in Arizona.

The Chávez building joins the Martin Luther King Jr. Building as the only other building named after an individual with no direct connections to the UA and who never contributed financially to the school.

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