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Anthony Veliz is a fifth generation Oregonian and community leader. In 2020, he established PODER: Oregon’s Latino Leadership Network.
Before him, the Veliz family worked hard to carve out Latine community life in the agricultural heart of the Willamette Valley. Veliz’ grandparents helped establish the now annual Fiesta Mexicana that takes place in Woodburn, Oregon every August.
“Growing up here, it was most definitely not the way the demographics are today. [Woodburn] was a very white city; a small rural town,” recalls Veliz.
The family had to assimilate to North American culture in order to survive. “We were really encouraged to learn English and only speak English,” says Veliz. “I think our main goal for my grandparents and my family was really to try to get integrated in the community. Just put your head down, get to work and don’t make a lot of noise.”
Anthony Veliz (L) Rodolfo Veliz and Candelaria Veliz (R) browse through family photos from the Colegio César Chávez days at their house in Salem, Oregon on July 30, 2024.
LaRonn Katchia / OPB
The trajectory of the Veliz family changed when Anthony’s parents, Rodolfo and Candelaria, decided that one of them should pursue a college education. “At that time we started thinking that we wanted a different life for our kids. We wanted them to go to school, get educated, because we never had the opportunities,” recalls Cande Veliz.
Cande wasn’t able to finish her high school education. “I went to work for Valley Migrant League, actually, and that was a federal program that was available that year. They were trying to help us either advance by going to Colegio or to get on-the-job training. And so he [Rodolfo Veliz] went to the Mt. Angel College, which eventually became Colegio.”
History of Colegio César Chávez
Colegio César Chávez, located on the grounds of a Benedictine Monastery in the rural town of Mt. Angel, Oregon, sprung from the formerly named Mt. Angel College’s need to increase student enrollment. The school opened on Dec. 12, 1973.
According to Natalia Fernández, Curator of Oregon State University’s Multicultural and Queer Archives, the Latino population in the state of Oregon at the time was approximately 32,000. “However, it’s highly unlikely that more than just a few hundred students of Mexican-American heritage were enrolled in Oregon’s colleges and universities,” says Fernández.
The Chicano Movement, also known as El Movimiento, made its way to Oregon in the 1960s via labor strikes and calls for equality for migrant farmworkers and the Latine community. The term Chicano, formerly used as a slur, took on a new meaning—with students and activists proudly taking on the name and tying the identity to the struggle for civil rights.
“One of the key causes of the Chicano Movement was education reform,” explains Fernández. “Chicano students across the United States organized, and they wanted things like more Chicano representation in faculty and staff. They wanted Chicano history taught in the curriculum. They wanted major reform to occur.”
Colegio César Chávez in Mt. Angel became the embodiment of this civil rights movement. To date, it remains the first and only independent accredited Chicano university in the country, serving its students through political and educational advocacy, an external degree program and a bicultural as well as bilingual curriculum — developed by and for migrant farmworkers.
Yet despite overwhelming community support, Colegio César Chávez ultimately ceased to exist just 10 years after its founding. The end of the institution, however, marked the beginning of a long lasting legacy.
Fighting erasure
Anthony Veliz recalls spending the formative years of his childhood on the Colegio campus while his father worked towards completing his degree. He was surrounded by founders of local grassroots organizations and champions of educational reform.
Therefore, it was a shock when he realized that the final traces of Colegio’s history — the murals inside the former site of the institution — had been painted over.
“I was like, ‘They’re trying to erase me and my history and my family and our people,” recalls Anthony. “I was like, ‘You know what? I’m going to take the bull by the horns and that’s not going to happen. I want the whole world to know about Colegio.”
This jumpstarted Anthony’s mission to uplift the history of Colegio César Chávez and work towards a new iteration of the institution, with support from Colegio co-founders Sonny Montes and José Romero.
Anthony Veliz poses for a portrait in his hometown of Woodburn, Oregon on August 1, 2024.
LaRonn Katchia / OPB
“The playing field is not level yet,” says Romero. “We still have the same issues that Colegio was trying to address—the underlying socioeconomic, equality and justice issues.”
Former state Rep. Teresa Alonso León relates first hand with the experiences Romero and Veliz are bringing to light. León’s own experiences as a first generation and formerly undocumented immigrant led her to champion educational reform in the state, becoming the first Latina Chair of the Oregon House Education Committee.
“We are expecting our young people, especially young people who have no experience, to apply for scholarships, apply for universities and meet their requirements,” says León.
“How can you meet the requirements when you’re the oldest in the family, you don’t have all the after-school extracurricular opportunities because you’re taking care of your younger brothers and sisters—and oh, by the way, you work too?”
‘We can overcome any obstacles’
These are just a few of the community leaders changing the educational landscape to increase accessibility and representation for the Latine community in Oregon, with many existing programs to show for it.
Local organizations like Adelante Mujeres, PCUN and Casa Latinos Unidos, coupled with student and faculty-led university organizations across the state, provide educational support, workshops and scholarships.
The state of Oregon offers a Migrant Education Program to ensure children of migrant farmworkers have access to public education. Higher education institutes such as Oregon State University and Portland City College also provide resources to promote educational access to the children of migrant farmworkers.
However, fewer programs exist to provide educational access to adults in the agricultural industry wishing to pursue a higher education. According to the latest census data, only 33% of agricultural farmworkers in the state complete “some college” education.
“There’s a lot of places and spaces where Latinos have never really been, and there’s still so many places for us to be and make our mark to make Oregon a better, more inclusive place,” says Anthony Veliz. “And I really believe that the values that we’re taught as farm workers—perseverance and that we can overcome any obstacles—I think that that’s at the core of it.”
Illustration by Sharon Albor / image source: Oregon State University Special Collections & Archives Research Center
