Western Oregon University leaders say they will rename a student leadership conference that was formerlly named after Cesar Chavez.
Rob Manning / OPB
Western Oregon University is the latest institution in the state taking steps to rid itself of any association with the deceased labor leader Cesar Chavez.
University officials announced Thursday that it will remove his name from the institution’s student leadership conference.
The conference is an annual springtime event that draws hundreds of high school students from across Oregon to Western for leadership workshops and a career fair. The conference was originally developed more than 30 years ago, by the same community groups who founded Colegio César Chávez. Many of the students who attend the conference each year identify as Latinx or Hispanic.
Dominique Vargas, who leads Western’s diversity, equity and inclusion efforts, said the decision to wipe Chavez’s name from the event was not taken lightly.
“This conference is really about student voices and uplifting students as they vision for their future,” Vargas said. “We did not want to allow this developing situation to negatively impact our current student community.”
WOU is based in the Willamette Valley community of Monmouth. More than a quarter of the school’s student body identify as Latinx or Hispanic. WOU is the only public university in the state deemed a Hispanic-serving institution, a federal designation that allows institutions to vie for additional federal funding to support students.
Chavez has long been revered in the civil rights movement for his organizing work in the 1960s and ’70s that eventually led to better working conditions for U.S. farm workers.
But that legacy has been called into question this week.
Several women, including fellow labor activist Dolores Huerta, accused Chavez of years of sexual abuse against them in a New York Times story published on Wednesday.
The fallout from the Times investigation has been swift across the nation, including in Oregon, where organizations, schools and city leaders were quick to denounce Chavez over the sexual misconduct allegations.
Related: Oregon institutions reckon with removing Cesar Chavez’s name following sexual abuse report
Western has not landed on a new name for its student leadership conference. University leaders said they will engage community members on how to move forward with the event’s rebranding.
But one thing is for sure, said Vargas: Renaming the conference will refocus the event on students and community development.
“Collective community is incredibly important, both in the Latino community and the university community, and this conference supports students from all over Oregon,” she said. “We want to take some time and engage with students to really think the new name through.”
