(March 24, 2017) — Two renowned literary professors — Dr. H. Gerald Campano and Dr. Maria Paula Ghiso — will keynote the annual Cesar Chavez Education Conference on Literacy and Education Policy from 8 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Saturday, March 25.

The conference kicks off Fresno State’s celebration of National Farm Workers Awareness Week March 24 through 31. The week ends with the Cesar Chavez Day of Service Learning Holiday Friday, March 31, when the campus will be closed for the official state holiday.

Events include the University’s 21st annual Cesar E. Chavez Garlanding Ceremony and Celebration from 10 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Wednesday, March 29, in the Free Speech Area and the Peace Garden. Camila Chavez, daughter of Dolores Huerta and niece of Cesar Chavez, will be the keynote speaker.

Also scheduled is the Cesar Chavez Blood Drive from 4:30 to 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, March 28, in the University Dinning Hall (east wing). The drive will continue from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. March 29 and 30 when the donor bus will be located on the west side of the University Student Union near the Henry Madden Library. Donors will receive a free T-shirt and coupons. It is sponsored by the Jan and Bud Richter Center for Community Engagement and Service-Learning, the Central California Blood Center and College Assistance Migrant Program at Fresno State.

The Cesar E. Chavez Farmworker Photo Exhibition began March 20 and runs through Thursday, March 30, on the second floor of the Henry Madden Library.

The campus celebration on Wednesday will be organized by the Latino/a Programs and Services of the Cross Cultural and Gender Center at Fresno State, the Latina/o Faculty Staff Association and various Fresno State student organizations.

It begins with student information tables in the Peace Garden before the 11:15 a.m. ceremony.

Camila Chavez, whose father is the late Richard Chavez (Cesar’s brother), will speak at 12:35 p.m. She attended Mills College in Oakland, where she coordinated the Stop Prop. 209 campaign to save Affirmative Action in California. After graduating, she remained in the Bay Area and worked to promote Medi-Cal and other health coverage programs for low-income and undocumented families.

In 2003, Chavez returned to the Central Valley and established the Dolores Huerta Foundation with her mother. She currently serves as executive director and oversees training for low-income community members in leadership and organizational skills specific to civil and electoral participation, allowing them to become activists within their own communities.

The conference Saturday, presented by the Kremen School of Education and Human Development at Fresno State, will be held in the University Dining Hall with breakout sessions covering several topics from 9:45 to 10:45 a.m. and 11 a.m. to noon in the Professional Human Service building and the Family Food and Science building.

Campano, assistant professor and chair of the Reading, Writing, Literary Program at the University of Pennsylvania Graduate School, will speak on “Practitioner Research for Educational Equity: Expanding Circles of Solidarity” from 8:30 to 9:30 a.m.

Campano, a Carnegie Scholar, was presented the David H. Russel Award for Distinguished Research by the National Council for the Teachers of English for his book “Immigrant Students and Literacy: Reading, Writing and Remembering.”

Ghiso, assistant professor of literary education at Teacher College at Columbia University, will close the conference with a keynote on “Critical Literacy and Emergent Bilinguals: Social Justice Inquires through a Photographic Lens” from 12:30 to 1:30 p.m.

Ghiso researches the literacy learning of immigrant students. She has published in various professional journals, including “The Journal of Literacy Research,” “The NRC Yearbook” and “Reading and Research and Instruction.” Ghiso also works as a dual language elementary schools teacher in New York City.

For more information about the conference, contact Laura Alamillo, chair of the Literacy, Early, Bilingual and Special Education Department, at lalamillo@csufresno.edu or see http://bit.ly/FS-ChavezConf17.

For more information about the campus celebrations, contact Ofelia Gamez at 559.278.4768 or ofeliag@csufresno.edu or see http://bit.ly/FS-Chavez17.

Cesar E. Chavez
Garlanding Ceremony and Celebration

Wednesday, March 29, 2017

    • 11:15 a.m. – Performance by Aztec dancers
    • 1:30 a.m. – Performance by Los Danzantes de Aztlan (Mexican folkloric dancers)

 

 

    • 12:08 p.m. – U.S. National Anthem by “La Voz Kids” singer Isaac Torres

 

    • 12:10 p.m. – Students march with UFW, Filipino and Mexican flags

 

    • 12:15 p.m. – Remarks by Fresno State President Joseph I. Castro

 

    • 12:20 p.m. – Remarks by Antonio Cortes, UFW San Joaquin Valley regional director

 

    • 12:35 p.m. – Keynote by Camila Chavez

 

    • 12:45 p.m. – Remarks by Dr. Sudarshan Kapoor, Humanitarian Award winner and professor emeritus of social work

 

    • 12:50 p.m. – Garlanding ceremony begins at the Chavez monument while Fresno State Mariachi performs

 

    • 1 p.m. – Closing remarks; placing of carnations on the Chavez monument
    • 1:15 p.m. – Photo opportunit