UCLA’s Honorific Naming Committee unanimously recommended the removal of Cesár E. Chávez’s name from the department of Chicana/o and Central American Studies on Friday, following a Wednesday New York Times investigation which revealed his alleged sex abuse. 

The committee – which received the request from the department Wednesday – sent its recommendation to Chancellor Julio Frenk and Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost Darnell Hunt, according to a Friday letter obtained by the Daily Bruin. Only UC President James Milliken and Frenk can make the final decision on the removal of Chávez’s name, according to University policy, which gives them the authority to rename UCLA properties and programs. 

The department voted to remove Chávez’s name from its department Wednesday, the day the New York Times report came out. Chávez, a leader in the 1960s Latino civil rights movement who died in 1993, allegedly sexually abused minors and fellow labor leader Dolores Huerta in the 1960s and 1970s, according to the article. 

[Related: UCLA’s Chicana/o studies department votes to remove César E. Chávez from its name]

Administrative Vice Chancellor Michael Beck and Teofilo Ruiz – co-chairs of the naming committee – said in the Friday letter to Frenk and Hunt that they believe Chávez’s name should be removed, as honoring him would erode community trust of UCLA. The Honorific Naming Committee was created to determine how spaces on campus can better reflect the university’s mission, according to the UCLA administrative vice chancellor’s website.

“The Committee finds that the heinous and morally reprehensible actions attributed to Mr. Chávez —described as acts of sexual violence, abuse, and exploitation—are fundamentally incompatible with UCLA’s values and mission,” Ruiz and Beck said in the letter. 

Raúl Hinojosa-Ojeda, the chair of the department, said the department stands with victims of sexual abuse and that he believes the movement is not synonymous with one singular person. 

“The mission and ethos of the department is social justice across borders, so we’re very focused on problems of inequality and the struggle for social justice,” Hinojosa-Ojeda said. “This action of immediately changing the name and providing immediate accountability is an example of how diligently and seriously we take this mission in every action that we strive to to address.” 

The department removed multiple references of César E. Chávez from its website, website URL and Instagram account as of Friday afternoon. 

The department also added a statement to their website Thursday announcing that it decided to remove Chávez’s name, as it does not represent the department’s ethos. 

“The Department of Chicana/o and Central American Studies denounces the acts of sexual and gender-based violence committed by César E. Chávez against women and girls, those who have spoken out and those who may still carry their silence,” the department said in the website statement. “We honor and believe the survivors.”

Multiple academic programs and student organizations – such as the Chicano Studies Research Center, Latino Policy and Politics Institute and the Undergraduate Students Association Council – made statements condemning Chávez’s actions and encouraging the removal of his name from the Chicana/o and Central American Studies department. 

USAC representatives called upon the department in a Wednesday Instagram post to rename itself after Huerta, who served as a member of the UC Board of Regents. Huerta – who Hinojosa-Ojeda said played a significant role in the department’s creation – is being discussed as a potential option for the new name, he added.

The Honorific Naming Committee includes both student, faculty and alumni leaders – including from USAC, the Graduate Students Association, the Academic Senate and the UCLA Alumni Association. 

“We recognize the significance of this recommendation,” Ruiz and Beck said in the letter. “The Committee’s decision reflects its responsibility to ensure that honorific names associated with the campus remain consistent with the University’s values and uphold the highest standards.”