UTEP cancels César Chávez holiday

By Adriana Gómez Licón \ El Paso Times
Posted: 01/05/2011 12:00:00 AM MST

The University of Texas at El Paso has revoked César Chávez Day as a holiday for the next four years, campus officials said Tuesday.

The decision came after the eight-member Executive Council of the Faculty Senate approved canceling the holiday, which celebrates the Mexican-American labor activist who fought for better working conditions for migrant farmworkers.

In November, the senate voted to remove March 31 as a holiday. On Monday, UTEP Registrar Miguel Sifuentes sent an e-mail to deans, chairs and faculty announcing the change.

"Part of the problem is the state limits the number of holidays," said UTEP's vice president Richard Adauto. "We just cannot take every holiday."

Although César Chávez Day is a state holiday, it is considered optional. Institutions of higher education get to choose 12 holidays per year.

Faculty Senate President Carl Lieb could not be reached to comment on the reasons behind the revocation.

Previously, UTEP had observed César Chávez Day by giving a day off to students and professors and leaving a skeleton staff.

It is a strong tradition on campus where 76 percent of the students are Hispanic. UTEP is one of the country's leading sources of college education to Hispanics and has been top-ranked numerous times for offering degrees to large numbers of Hispanics.
Now, the school will not cancel classes to commemorate Chávez, but will continue to have celebrations that span from February to April.

"It's not that we don't recognize it. We recognize it with activities and academic programs," Adauto said.

The 1960s civil rights figure is a monumental character in Southwest cities like El Paso. A school in the Ysleta Independent School District and the Border

TX CAPITOL REPORT
A view from the state capitol.

Highway are named after Chávez.
Chávez, of Yuma, Ariz., co-founded the United Farm Workers along with fellow activist Dolores Huerta. The labor union fought for better wages and more benefits through protests, strikes and boycotts. The popular message "SÃ* se puede" or "Yes, we can," is attributed to his farmworkers movement.

Dennis Bixler-Marquez, head of UTEP's Chicano Studies Program, said having classes on the day could be beneficial.

"Chicano studies faculty is concerned about that (the cancellation)," he said. "On the other hand, the fact that we'll have students on campus on the 31st will allow us to have events."

Bixler-Marquez said the problem is César Chávez Day is still a new holiday. California began observing it as an official state holiday in 1995. Texas established it an optional holiday in 1999. In Colorado, it has also been optional since 2003.

"This is a new kid-on-the-block holiday. It's been difficult to accommodate it ever since it was adopted," Bixler-Marquez said.

El Paso Community College will continue to observe the holiday, school officials said.

The director of the Border Agricultural Workers Union in El Paso said UTEP's decision stems from racism against those of Mexican origin.

"I consider it a lack of respect to the memory of César Chávez," said Carlos Marentes, director of the union. "UTEP is giving in to right-wing, conservative anti-immigrant groups that don't like recognizing people of immigrant origins."

Marentes said academic institutions should respect historical dates in both theory and practice.

"UTEP is erasing an important part of history at the drop of a hat," he said.

"It would seem simple to eliminate a historical date. But in the context we are living with rising discrimination against people of Mexican origin, this has strong repercussions."

Adriana Gómez Licón may be reached at agomez@elpasotimes.com; 546-6129.

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