Hunger strike commemorated

In a show of solidarity, students and faculty met yesterday to
commemorate the 10th anniversary of the 1993 UCLA hunger strike as
well as to look to the future of Chicana/o studies.

The anniversary was celebrated at the Chicano Studies Research
Center Library with a plaque ceremony, and photo exhibition.
Students listened to a variety of distinguished individuals speak
about the struggle for Chicana/o studies nearly a decade ago.

The speakers talked about the history behind the hunger strike,
how the hunger strike affected UCLA, lessons learned from the
struggle, and the role of student activism.

In April 1993 Chancellor Charles E. Young rejected a student
proposal for a Chicana/o studies department.

The most dramatic demonstration in response to the rejection and
recent budget cuts was a 14-day hunger strike, led by eight
students and one faculty member.

The hunger strike ended when the UCLA administration compromised
and created the César Chávez Center for Interdisciplinary
Instruction in Chicana/o Studies.

Chon Noriega, director of CSRC and who was in the first year of
his professorship in 1993, told students that the protest brought
home an important lesson: “students had as much to teach us,
as we to teach them.”

The hunger strike is viewed by many as a pivotal event in
UCLA’s history and its legacy is the CSRC Library and the
César Chávez Center.

Mario Valenzuela, former member of the UCLA Conscious Students
of Color and Union Organizer, said the hunger strike “became
a spontaneous explosion of activism.” Furthermore, Valenzuela
cited the importance of strength and unity in regard to student
activism.

Alongside Valenzuela’s remarks, UCLA MEChA Chairwoman
Elizabeth Delgado said “activism plays a role in the way we
develop.”

Delgado added that the actions of the hunger strikers gave her
the passion and fire to proceed and bring forth change.

One of the biggest issues that speakers addressed was the need
for unity. Pablo Murillo, a UCLA alumnus and student activist
during the turbulent period of the early 1990s, was present at the
ceremony and said “economic situations foster divisions, and
we have to get over those divisions; we must unite against
division.”

Speakers noted that the vision of the hunger strikers has not
yet been accomplished.

Noriega cited that the César Chávez Center has yet to
become a full-fledged department.

The ceremony honored the student struggle for Chicano studies in
the early 1990s, and also acknowledged the future of Chicana/o
studies.

After the ceremony, the students, faculty and speakers headed
over to Haines 179 to see a collection of photos.

The photo exhibit, titled “The 1993 Hunger Strike for a
Chicano Studies Department at UCLA: A Retrospective,” was
organized through the CSRC. A combination of photos taken from
Daily Bruin archives, quotes from local newspapers, and primary
sources from the Center’s 1993 Hunger Strike Archival
Collection, make up the exhibit.

Participants said the photo exhibit is meant to recapture the
memory and history of the hunger strike.

“Students tend to forget the past and the exhibit gives a
really good overview of what happened,” said third-year
Chicana/o studies and history student Andy Ramirez.

Sandra Ruiz, a fifth-year Chicana/o studies student, added that
the exhibit “represents the reality of the protest. The words
of the media distorted what really happened.”

The program and opening of the photo exhibit is just one in a
series of events this spring meant to commemorate the 1993 hunger
strike.