{"componentChunkName":"component---src-templates-article-tsx","path":"/primehungerstrikes","result":{"data":{"primeArticle":{"slug":"prime.hungerstrikes","excerpt":"Thirty-one years ago, a hunger strike saved the Chicano/a studies department. As UCLA pursues Hispanic-Serving Institution designation, former strikers and current students reflect on UCLA’s attitudes toward Latino students.","headline":"Striking the Path for Future Generations: The Past and Present of Latino Student Resources at UCLA","author":"Gwendolyn Lopez","authorbio":"","authoremail":"","authortwitter":"","coverimg":"https://assets3.dailybruin.com/images/prime.hungerstrikes/Untitled_design-4505fa335171cc41647069603be1629a.jpg","covercred":"Daily Bruin file photo","coveralt":"Photograph of hunger striker.","articleType":"article","updated":"","content":[{"type":"text","value":"Maria Magdalena Lara worked tirelessly for the chance to attend her dream school. But she never expected to be escorted off campus by officers in riot gear."},{"type":"text","value":"In the spring of 1993, then-UCLA Chancellor Charles E. Young decided to stop investing in the interdepartmental Chicana/o studies program. A series of protests ensued, leading to over 90 arrests when students and faculty occupied the UCLA Faculty Center in Murphy Hall. With the program in danger of being shut down permanently, a small group of students, faculty and community members went on a hunger strike outside Murphy Hall, which housed Young’s office, as a final stand against the university’s decision."},{"type":"text","value":"One of the strikers, Lara, who graduated from UCLA in 1994 with a political science degree, quickly found herself propelled into a movement garnering nationwide coverage. She and the other strikers were determined to establish a department for Chicana/o studies at UCLA, while also demanding the dismissal of criminal charges filed against arrested students."},{"type":"text","value":"Confronted with the university’s police crackdown and backlash from skeptics on all sides, Lara could have found it easy to give up. Instead, she pushed against her gnawing hunger pangs and continued forward – drawing strength from the support of her family and community."},{"type":"text","value":"\"We had made a commitment to remain on the hunger strike as long as was needed,\" Lara said. \"I know I was willing to make the ultimate sacrifice.\""},{"type":"text","value":"Staring down the future of UCLA’s Latino-centered education, Lara said she was willing to die for the Chicana/o studies program at UCLA. Decades after the 14-day strike, UCLA once again finds itself at a crossroads regarding its Latino population. As the university works toward a Hispanic-Serving Institution designation by 2025, UCLA hopes to further support its Latino student body through improving educational programs, enrollment and retention. Although much has changed since the hunger strike, Latino students and faculty say they lack the proper resources and support to navigate their academic careers."},{"type":"text","value":"Five of the nine UC undergraduate campuses currently hold HSI status, according to the University of California’s Equity, Diversity and Inclusion website. This designation – given to institutions with a Latino undergraduate body of at least 25% – makes them eligible for grants from the U.S. Department of Education to support underrepresented students."},{"type":"pull","value":"{\"caption\":\"We had made a commitment to remain on the hunger strike as long as was needed,\\\" Lara said. \\\"I know I was willing to make the ultimate sacrifice.\\\"\"}"},{"type":"text","value":"In 1996, Proposition 209 was passed, ending affirmative action in the UC. This led to a decline in admissions of underrepresented students, including Latinos. But today, UCLA’s Latino undergraduate enrollment is the highest it’s ever been, with fall 2023 numbers reaching 22%. As UCLA nears its goal of 25%, students are excited for the changes the HSI designation can bring."},{"type":"text","value":"Third-year labor studies student Diego Emilio Bollo said one of his main goals as a USAC general representative is to work closely with the HSI administration in allocating resources for Latino students."},{"type":"text","value":"\"This HSI status is the ability for UCLA Latino students to increase their well-being, increase their opportunities, increase their opportunities for mentorship and just make their lives so much easier,\" Bollo said."},{"type":"text","value":"Sofía Orduña, a third-year international development studies and political science student, said it is very affirming to know there are passionate people who care about welcoming Latino students into the UCLA community. She said the university, with its high position of power, has the capacity to enact positive change on campus and that the HSI designation can be a way of accomplishing this."},{"type":"image","value":"{\"alt\":\"Photograph of Sofía Orduña.\",\"url\":\"https://assets3.dailybruin.com/images/prime.hungerstrikes/DSC_9836-65b8638cc898cacbaed4c3448f4cc914.jpg\",\"credit\":\"Brianna Carlson/Daily Bruin staff\",\"caption\":\"\"}"},{"type":"text","value":"Elizabeth Gonzalez, the inaugural director of HSI efforts for UCLA’s Office of the Chancellor, said the HSI designation will bring mutual benefits to both the student body and the university – providing the opportunity for UCLA to remove barriers that affect underrepresented students. With the designation also requiring a 37% Pell-eligible undergraduate body, she added that low-income students from any cultural background will find more support as UCLA works to achieve HSI status, largely through financial aid such as scholarships and bolstering existing programs such as the Academic Advancement Program."},{"type":"text","value":"Gonzalez said the university is on track to reach the designation by 2025. With UCLA becoming eligible for a variety of grants once HSI status is achieved, she projects that UCLA could receive tens of millions of dollars in additional funding after the designation is achieved."},{"type":"text","value":"Looking back on the hunger strike, Marcos Aguilar, a 1994 UCLA graduate in Chicana/o studies and a strike participant, said the demands of the strike have far been surpassed – citing the increase in Latino enrollment, community strength and UCLA’s path to HSI status."},{"type":"text","value":"\"If the intent is to recognize and promote the recruitment of Mexican, Chicano, Latin American-origin peoples that live in Los Angeles, then it (HSI) would be beneficial to our community to have greater access,\" Aguilar said."},{"type":"text","value":"While the 1993 hunger strike managed to preserve the interdepartmental Chicana/o studies program, Lara said the vision of the strike was realized in 2005 with the establishment of the César E. Chávez Department of Chicana/o and Central American Studies, over a decade after the strikers initially demanded the center. Today, the department boasts over 450 students enrolled in majors or minors, focusing not only on Chicana/o history and literature but also the community’s art and culture."},{"type":"text","value":"Reflecting on his own experience during the hunger strike, Aguilar said his vision of Chicana/o studies was broad and representative, including Indigenous, immigrant, working class and queer students. Lara added that she feels immense pride to see the Chávez department adding \"Central American Studies\" to its name – noting the department’s increase in enrollment, especially at the graduate level, as something she never would have imagined in 1993."},{"type":"text","value":"Karina Alma, an assistant professor in the Chávez department, said the initiative to encapsulate the full diversity of Latino identities can be seen in today’s UCLA Chicana/o studies department."},{"type":"text","value":"Alma said she strives to create curricula that explore the full diversity of Central American experiences. As a Salvadoran immigrant, Alma navigated her early education years with an unfulfilled yearning to learn more about her Central American homeland – prompting her to focus on Central American literature as an educator."},{"type":"text","value":"When all Latino identities are generalized into one category, Central American students can often be faced with a lack of visibility, she said."},{"type":"text","value":"\"We come to discover that, ‘No, Central Americans have always been there,’\" Alma said. \"And even if it was just a small number of individuals, they nonetheless are representative of a historical movement.\""},{"type":"text","value":"Offering classes that explore cultural subject matter is crucial for education, she added, as learning about different Latino identities can help students service the Latino community in their careers, regardless of which field they end up pursuing."},{"type":"text","value":"However, UCLA was not always welcoming to Latino students, Aguilar said. Viewing the strike as a deeply intimate yet communal experience, Aguilar said it was a personal way to combat the administration’s opposition to a Chicana/o studies department. During the strike, Aguilar felt connected to both his people and his history, as the tactic of fasting honored the memory of Cesar Chávez, who had gone on hunger strikes multiple times throughout his life before his death a month prior to the strike at UCLA."},{"type":"pull","value":"{\"caption\":\"Nothing else would change the course of history at UCLA but the death of one of us or many of us.\\\"\"}"},{"type":"text","value":"Both Aguilar and Lara said they did not know how long the strike would last at the beginning. As the strike continued, several members were hospitalized, with Lara describing the experience as a period of intense physical strain."},{"type":"text","value":"\"It was an extremely difficult, painful and challenging experience. Anyone who has gone several days fasting, even if it’s three days, knows that it’s extremely demanding on the body,\" Lara said."},{"type":"text","value":"But despite the physical demands, Lara said the strike was spiritually uplifting for her, tapping into a deep resilience that kept her going."},{"type":"text","value":"For Aguilar, one of his toughest challenges during the strike was deciding when to end it. Convinced that significant change would only happen by risking his life, Aguilar said he was reluctant to stop fasting even after his community leaders and then-Chancellor Young settled on a deal."},{"type":"text","value":"\"It seemed to us that the only other option was death, and nothing else would change the course of history at UCLA but the death of one of us or many of us,\" Aguilar said."},{"type":"text","value":"Today, Lara said the university has implemented more resources for underrepresented students since she has attended, such as the UCLA Transfer Student Center. She is also proud of the legacy the 1993 hunger strike has left, adding that her daughter – who currently attends the University of Wisconsin-Madison – studied the strike’s impact in one of her Chicana/o studies classes."},{"type":"text","value":"Though strides have been made since 1993, UCLA and the campus community continue to develop resources for Latino students on campus."},{"type":"text","value":"Bollo is excited to see the development of a Latinx Success Center, which he said will be opening to students in winter quarter. At the center, which will be located in De Neve, students will be able to receive academic, cultural and professional support from counselors and peers – as well as build community with other Latino students."},{"type":"text","value":"Orduña said the establishment of the success center will be especially beneficial for first-year and transfer students. She added that it opens the door for future collaborations with other resource centers on campus, creating an intersectional space for Latino students of diverse identities."},{"type":"image","value":"{\"alt\":\"Photograph of strikers.\",\"url\":\"https://assets3.dailybruin.com/images/prime.hungerstrikes/prime.hungerstrikes_image-417327457de77753b7986bdca22a254f.png\",\"credit\":\"Photo courtesy of Maria Lara and design by Katie Azuma/Daily Bruin\",\"caption\":\"\"}"},{"type":"text","value":"Cultural events like the annual Latinx Welcome, which Bollo helped plan with the HSI team this year, are a way to advocate for Latino students on campus. Bollo added that student cultural organizations such as Empowering Latines Against Struggle at UCLA, Grupo Estudiantil Oaxaqueño de UCLA and Afro-Latinx Connection de UCLA cater to the needs of Latino students while validating their identity – and providing a space to organize if it's ever needed."},{"type":"text","value":"Despite a growing community for Latino students on campus, these students must often overcome disproportionate roadblocks in higher education, Bollo said. In fall 2023, 64% of Latino undergraduates identified as first-generation – a group that often faces hurdles in accessing research opportunities, along with financial barriers to housing, tuition and class essentials, he noted. Beyond the undergraduate body, Bollo added that there remains a lack of Latino representation in the UCLA faculty and doctoral student population."},{"type":"text","value":"\"I often don't feel seen; I don't feel represented. I don’t feel as if my Latino community’s demands and promises have been met by UCLA administration,\" Bollo said. \"At times, I feel as if I’m almost a prop for show – just for diversity.\""},{"type":"text","value":"First-generation students in particular carry twice the responsibility, Lara said, of not only learning the unfamiliar post-secondary system on their own but also teaching it to their family members as well. She said it is important for students to not only learn the requirements of accessing higher education but to also have resources available to them."},{"type":"text","value":"She added that UCLA administration can support first-generation students by expanding outreach beyond campus to connect with nonprofits and communities such as religious institutions, where many first-generation students come from."},{"type":"text","value":"\"When someone like me finally gets to go to UCLA, it’s really not just me attending,\" Lara said. \"Someone like me is bringing my entire family and even the communities that we’re a part of.\""},{"type":"text","value":"Gonzalez said the HSI team plans to increase scholarship awards to incoming Latino students, both before and after achieving HSI status. Through lowering students’ financial barriers and hosting LA County outreach events, she hopes there will be an increase in Latino enrollment, retention and success post-graduation."},{"type":"pull","value":"{\"caption\":\"I often don't feel seen; I don't feel represented. I don’t feel as if my Latino community’s demands and promises have been met by UCLA administration.\\\"\"}"},{"type":"text","value":"Since graduating, Lara continues to advocate for the Latino community as co-founder and president of the Latino Professional Association of Northeast Wisconsin. Inspired by her experience as a hunger striker, Lara, now a college educator, hopes to see more effective leadership in the administration driven by community outreach."},{"type":"text","value":"Virginia Espino, a continuing lecturer in the Chicana/o studies and labor studies department, said that UCLA should also invest more into its instructors. As a Unit 18 teaching faculty member, Espino said she is denied many resources that senate faculty have access to, which can impact her ability to serve students. As someone who grew up feeling ashamed of her identity, she added that the university should hire more faculty that identifies as Latino to validate students’ lived experiences."},{"type":"text","value":"Also an educator, Aguilar aims to expand more educational opportunities for Latino students through summer programs that prepare prospective students for college. He added that the spirit of student activism at UCLA refuses to be extinguished, commending the commitment seen in the Palestine solidarity encampment last spring."},{"type":"text","value":"Now, 31 years since the hunger strike, it remains uncertain whether UCLA will reach its goal of becoming an HSI by 2025, given that UCLA has not yet reached the 25% Latino enrollment required for designation. Despite this, Aguilar is proud of the progress the university has made since his days of protest."},{"type":"text","value":"In 2017, Aguilar returned to UCLA – not for anything related to the hunger strike, but to attend his daughter’s graduation ceremony. Surrounded by a crowd of strangers unaware of his past hardships, Aguilar felt a strong sense of fulfillment – knowing he helped, in some way, pave the path for Latino students today."},{"type":"text","value":"\"To witness the stream of brown faces that walked up to receive the diploma in a degree of Chicana and Chicano studies like my daughter, so many years later, was extremely impressive to me, and a very powerful, proud moment internally,\" Aguilar said. \"And I feel like the possibility of UCLA recognizing its place in Los Angeles and becoming an HSI is tied to that.\""},{"type":"image","value":"{\"alt\":\"Interactive1\",\"url\":\"https://assets3.dailybruin.com/images/prime.hungerstrikes/interactive1-becf31a746bfa6efc90e8e586f7e71ed.png\",\"credit\":\"Graphic reporting by L Yang\"}"},{"type":"image","value":"{\"alt\":\"Interactive2\",\"url\":\"https://assets3.dailybruin.com/images/prime.hungerstrikes/chart3-fb3e735a3f23c4ba1d95889bc2514a71.png\",\"credit\":\"Graphic reporting by Liam McGlynn\"}"},{"type":"image","value":"{\"alt\":\"Interactive3\",\"url\":\"https://assets3.dailybruin.com/images/prime.hungerstrikes/chart2-c248ab6ef6d63878bc91dc1e54b9cf48.png\",\"credit\":\"Graphic reporting by Liam McGlynn\"}"}]}},"pageContext":{"term":"fall24","slug":"prime.hungerstrikes"}},"staticQueryHashes":[]}