Hamilton College will celebrate the legacy of labor and civil rights leader Cesar Chavez with volunteer projects and campus events from March 30 through April 2. Chavez led the non-violent movement for farmworkers’ rights, a movement that extended beyond the fields and into cities and towns across the nation, and helped found the National Farm Workers Association, which later became the United Farm Workers (UFW).
Cesar Chavez Commemorative Week events are free and open to the public and include:
- Wednesday, March 30, at 4 p.m. at the Glen House – Diversity and Social Justice Project (DSJP) Coffee Hour: “The Future of Labor in the United States” with Hamilton’s Alan Cafruny, the Henry Platt Bristol Professor of International Affairs; Derek Jones, professor of economics; and Madeleine Lopez, consulting director of the Cultural Education Center and lecturer in education.
- Thursday, March 31, at 4:30 p.m. in the Bradford Auditorium, Kirner-Johnson Building – “Children of Latino Immigrants: Preserving their Stories,” a personal story-telling workshop with filmmaker Gisela Sanders Alcantara.
- Thursday, March 31, at 7 p.m. in the Bradford Auditorium – Screening of New Children/New York, a documentary that follows three Latino filmmaking students as they reflect on cultural issues and their own identities through their films.
- Friday, April 1, at 7:30 p.m. in List, room 106 – Readers Theater: “Celebrating Teatro Campesino” featuring the plays “Quinta” and “Dog Lady.” Founded in 1965, El Teatro Campesino (The Farmworkers’ Theater) created short comedy skits with a serious underlying message and performed them on flatbed trucks and in union halls to dramatize the plight of farmworkers.
In addition to the public events, members of the Hamilton community will participate in two service projects. On Friday, April 1, a group of volunteers will present a special lesson at Kernan Elementary School in Utica. To conclude the celebration, on Saturday, April 2, Hamilton employees and students will work in the Utica community helping in the revitalization of community gardens and assisting at food pantries and soup kitchens.
For information about any of the programs, contact Madeleine Lopez at mlopez@hamilton.edu. If you are interested in the service projects, contact Celeste Fuller at 315-859-4696 or cfuller@hamilton.edu.
