Phillip Patino, a retired coach and teacher who founded a Fresno State program to inspire young Latino males is the 2011 Chicano Alumni Legacy Builder, recognized by the California State University, Fresno Alumni Association Chicano Alumni chapter.
He will be recognized during the “Viva Bulldogs Football Kickoff” Chicano Alumni scholarship banquet 6 p.m.-midnight Friday, Aug. 26, at International Catering (4277 N. West Ave.) in northwest Fresno.
Bulldogs football Coach Pat Hill will deliver the keynote talk and new men’s basketball coach Terry Rodney also will speak. The Chicano Alumni chapter supports the Bulldogs with its “Viva Dogs” chapter slogan and is a partner in the annual Football Fiesta Night (this year on Oct. 7 vs. Boise State) in observance of Hispanic Heritage Month.
The 2011 Chicano Alumni scholarship recipients also will be introduced: Alicia Acevedo of Farmersville, Larissa Garcia of Dinuba, Gladis Gramajo of Oakhurst, Lucerito Salgado of Santa Maria and Carissa Uribe of Fresno.
Chicano Alumni is the oldest of the 17 Fresno State Alumni Association affinity chapters and annually awards five $1,000 scholarships to students who excel academically and are active in their community.
The Chicano Alumni Legacy Builders Award recognizes a Fresno State alumnus who has made significant contributions to the Chicano experience at the university and to the community at large, said banquet chair Manuel Olgin.
“Patino is recognized for his extensive and outstanding service to generations of students at every level of education during his 40 years of teaching and administering educational programs in the San Joaquin Valley,” Olgin said.
Patino also supervised student teachers at Fresno State’s Kremen School of Education and Human Development for 10 years following his 1991 retirement. He founded the annual Si Se Puede Hispanic Male Conference at Fresno State to provide information and inspiration to Latino high school boys.
Patino earned a bachelor’s degree in Spanish in 1949. Following two years of Army service, he taught at Woodlake Elementary, Woodlake High School and Fowler High School, where he coached varsity basketball and taught Spanish. He was an administrator at various schools.
Patino served as a board member of the Chicano Alumni and Kremen Educational chapters of the Alumni Association and provided community service through the Airport Optimist Club of Fresno and the Association of Mexican American Educators.
Patino and his wife, Shirley, have five daughters and a son.
Previous Chicano Alumni Legacy Builders include the late Ernesto Martinez, a Fresno State professor emeritus who founded Los Danzantes de Aztlán; Phillip Sanchez, the first Hispanic Cabinet member, and Fresno County Superior Court Judge Armando Rodriguez.
Tickets for the banquet and a silent auction are $60. Proceeds benefit Chicano Alumni chapter scholarships.
For reservations or sponsorships, contact Olgín at 559.871.8463. More information is at http://www.chicanoalumni.com/pdf/viva_bulldogs_v2.pdf.
University Communications news intern Reganie Smith-Love contributed to this report.
