Note: The celebration has been moved to the Table Mountain Rancheria Reading Room located on the third floor (North wing) of the Henry Madden Library.

The Latino/a Programs and Services of the Cross Cultural and Gender Center will host the 17th annual Cesar Chavez celebration from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Wednesday, March 21, in front of the Chavez monument in Fresno State’s Peace Garden. The Cesar Chavez Day holiday is March 31.

Julie Chavez Rodriguez, granddaughter of Cesar E. Chavez and California state director for the Office of U.S. Senator Kamala Harris, will be the keynote speaker.

Also scheduled is the Cesar Chavez Blood Drive from 4:30 to 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, March 20, in the University Dining Hall. The drive will continue from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. March 21 and 22 when the donor bus will be located on the west side of the University Student Union and in the Maple Mall. Donors will receive a free T-shirt. It is sponsored by the Jan and Bud Richter Center for Community Engagement and Service-Learning, the Central California Blood Center and the College Assistance Migrant Program at Fresno State.

“As a former seasonal farm worker, I am extremely proud to work together with Fresno State students, faculty and staff to put together this celebration to commemorate the life of the late Cesar E. Chavez,” said Ofelia Gamez, director of the College Assistance Migrant Program. “His work has and continues to be instrumental to the farm workers across the nation.”

The celebration begins with over 20 student information tables in the Peace Garden before the 11:15 a.m. ceremony.

Events include performances by the Aztec Dance Club, Los Danzantes de Aztlán, the Fresno State Mariachi, as well as presentation of U.S. colors and the UFW flag, and the garlanding of Chavez’s monument.

Julie Chavez Rodriguez will speak at 12:25 p.m. Rodriguez was born and raised in the Central Valley. She attended University of California, Berkeley and worked for the Cesar Chavez Foundation in Los Angeles for nine years before joining the Obama administration.

She was the special assistant to President Barack Obama and the senior deputy director of public engagement at the White House. She managed a team of associate directors working with leaders in the LGBT, AAPI, Latino, veterans, youth, education, labor, and progressive communities, and she supported efforts to reform the nation’s immigration system, improve services for veterans and increase access to affordable, quality health care.

Rodriguez also worked in coordination with the White House’s National Security Council on efforts to normalize the United States’ relationship with Cuba, in addition to responding to the migration of Central American children and their families.

Prior to joining the White House, she served as the director of youth employment at the Department of the Interior and as the deputy press secretary to former Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar.

For more information, contact Ofelia Gamez at 559.278.4768. or ofeliag@mail.fresnostate.edu.


University Communications news intern Yesenia Candelaria contributed to this report.