Paul Chavez, right, is assisted by Dr. Sudarshan Kapoor in honoring Paul's father Cesar E. Chavez during the garlanding ceremony in the Peace Garden Monday. On Tuesday, many Fresno State students are heading for the national observance in La Paz.   Fresno State Henry Madden Library patrons now have a serene view of the renovated Peace Garden which has four statues to peacemakers erected, including the Cesar E. Chavez monument where a garlanding ceremony March 30 will be part of day long festival honoring the late UFW founder's struggle on behalf of farm workers.

Paul Chávez, son of the late César E. Chávez, will deliver the keynote address at California State University, Fresno’s celebration of the life and legacy of the United Farm Workers Union founder from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Monday, March 30, in the Peace Garden on campus.

 

Activities will include a garlanding ceremony at the monument erected to Chavez who often engaged the support of the university community in the movement to improve working conditions and advocate education for farm workers.

 

Chávez, who will speak at 12:30 p.m., is president of the National Farm Workers Service Center in La Paz, east of Bakersfield.

 

It is the second of two campus observances. On March 20-21, the third César Chávez Education Conference will be held on campus with a program around the theme “Renewing Hope: Building Capacity for Change, Yes We Can!” That event is presented by the Kremen School of Education and Human Development.

 

The Fresno State campus will be closed March 31 in observance of the state holiday honoring Chávez Day.

 

The March 30 celebration will begin with a festival from 9 a.m. to noon.  Booths will offer activities that focus on the event’s four main themes: farm workers, César E. Chávez, education and leadership. 

 

The event will continue from noon to 1 p.m. with entertainment such as folkloric dancers and mariachis followed by the presentation of the national colors by the Air Force ROTC and the singing of the U.S. and Mexican national anthems.

 

An overview of Chávez’s life and the issues facing farm workers will be presented before the celebration concludes with the traditional garlanding ceremony of the Chávez statue in the newly remodeled Peace Garden, which is just north of the Henry Madden Library. The monument was installed in the garden in 1996, and this will be the first major public event since the garden was reopened in February after re-landscaping designed to visually tie the Peace Garden to the recent renovation of the Madden Library.

 

The observance is sponsored by Trabajadores de la Raza, MEChA, Sigma Omega Nu, Alpha Pi Sigma, Mu Chi Omega, Nu Alpha Kappa, DIAS, Club Austral, Education and Leadership Foundation, University Migrant Services, Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers, Students for Quality Education, Gamma Zeta Alpha, Chicano Alumni Association, Lambda Theta Phi, Danzatez Yoztaltepetl, Es-tu-dios, Lambda Theta Nu, Migrant Student Alliance and Dr. Sudarshan Kapoor, founder of the Peace Garden.

 

For more information about the March 30 observance, contact Ambar Alvarez at 805.264.5202 or ambara@csufresno.edu. For the conference, contact Dr. Laura Alamillo at 559.278.0280 or Dr. Steven Hart at 559.278.0319.

 

 

(Copy by University Communications news intern Amanda Fine.)

 

Related links:
Paul Chávez bio
César Chávez education conference March 20-21