SUBJECT:

UCSD César E. Chávez Celebration

César E. Chávez encouraged and promoted dignity, determination, tolerance and innovation as effective methods for everyone confronted by discrimination and economic injustice. I am pleased to announce and encourage faculty, staff and students to participate in the series of educational celebratory events designed to honor the late César E. Chávez.

Some activites include:

* César E. Chávez Opening Reception scheduled for today, April 5, 2005 from noon to 1:30 p.m. to honor Claudia Smith, Director of the Border Project, California Rural Legal Assistance Fund, for her selfless fighting of injustice and discrimination on behalf of farm workers and the rural poor. The Chicano/Latino Alumni Association will award two scholarships to UCSD students. Reception will follow. International House Great Hall, Eleanor Roosevelt College.

* Attorney Ken Seaton-Msemaji, President and founder of the United Domestic Workers Union, will speak on Friday, April 15, 2005 from 11:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. on the connection between the United Farm Workers Union and the formation of the United Domestic Workers Union, including an overview of the evolution and impact of laws and case precedence on unionization efforts in the United States. Reception will follow. Cross-Cultural Center.

* Superwoman Chicana: Poetry and Music with Gloria Velásquez, scheduled for Thursday, April 28, at 7:00 p.m., focuses on the Chicano movement for social justice that lives on, fierce and passionate, in the poetry and music of this award-winning writer and professor of Modern Languages and Literature at California State University, San Luis Obispo. International House Great Hall, Eleanor Roosevelt College.

For more information on the Chávez celebration visit the web site at http://blink.ucsd.edu/go/chavez.

In recognition of this annual event, I am approving two hours of administrative leave with pay that employees may apply to their attendance at a UCSD César E. Chávez activity. Supervisors are encouraged to allow employees two hours of administrative leave with pay to attend one or more of the planned celebratory César Chávez events, when the absence does not infringe upon the performance of required job duties.

At this time I would like to thank the UCSD César E. Chávez Planning Committee for their time and effort to coordinate these educational and celebratory campus events and activities.

Please join me, members of the UCSD César E. Chávez Planning Committee, special guests, and visitors as we collectively and publicly celebrate the legacy and contributions of César E. Chávez.

Marye Anne Fox Chancellor