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 “¡Viva
’Dogs!” has been the battle cry of the Chicano Alumni chapter as it
supported Fresno State Bulldog football the past three decades – dating
back to Ratcliffe Stadium.
Now the group will partner with California State University, Fresno
Athletics for Football Fiesta Night at the first home game of the year
on Sept. 5. The event marking Hispanic Heritage Month was announced by
football coach Pat Hill who was joined by Manuel Olgin, Chicano Alumni
past president and other community partners.
For the game against UC Davis in Bulldog Stadium, there will be live
Mexican music at Bulldog Boulevard prior to kickoff, bilingual video
board messages, discounted group tickets and family plans, and a special
halftime salute to the region’s Latino heritage.
Olgin said Hill and recently hired assistant Micah Alba will be guests
at the monthly Chicano Alumni Red Friday no-host reception 5-7:30 p.m.
Friday, June 5, at the Agave Grill, 25 W. Shaw Ave. in Clovis.
Alba was a cornerback and return specialist for BYU in 2001-4, leading
the team in interceptions as a senior and named a Mountain West
Conference Scholar Athlete. He became a graduate assistant for BYU,
working with the Cougars’ defense four seasons before joining the
Bulldogs.
“We are thrilled that Coach Hill has taken such a passion not only with
this promotion for Hispanic Heritage Month but also in giving young
Latinos like Coach Alba this great opportunity,” said Olgin.
Olgin recalled Chicano Alumni’s first tailgate in the mid-’70s. It was
held at Ratcliffe Stadium near the university’s old central Fresno
campus (now Fresno City College), before Bulldog Stadium opened in 1980.
“We have been through thick and thin with our ’Dogs over the years,” he
said.
Fresno State’s Latino student enrolment is nearly 7,300, or 32.5
percent. The annual Latino Commencement Celebration, founded by Chicano
Alumni in 1976 and now organized by the College of Social Sciences, is
considered one of the largest in the state, if not the nation.
The event will be promoted heavily with Univision television partner
KFVT, Channel 21, and with radio partners Lotus Communications, which
operates radio stations La Buena 101.9 FM and ESPN Deportes 1600 AM, the
Spanish home of the Bulldogs.
Tickets are available by calling 559.244.5621 or via the Chicano Alumni
Web site, www.chicanoalumni.com/.
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