Now that his reputation is tarnished with recent revelations of decades old sexual misdeeds, the name of Cesar Chavez will be removed from the junior high school in Ceres as the community is invited to submit ideas for a new name.
The Ceres Unified School District Board of Trustees voted on May 7 to rename Cesar Chavez Junior High School following public input on multiple occasions. The district conducted listening sessions, a community town hall, feedback forms, and comments by phone. Of those who provided feedback, 53 percent striking the name of the late farm laborer union organizer, 34 percent were opposed, and 13 percent had no strong opinion either way.
CUSD is now gathering and reviewing name recommendations from the community. Board Policy calls for the formation of an ad hoc committee to review community suggestions and narrow the list to three for the Board’s final consideration on June 18.
The criteria for naming schools in Ceres are that the person has made outstanding contributions to the school district or community; or after geographic areas in which the school, building or facility is located.
Name submission may come from Ceres parents/guardians, employees, students and Ceres community members by 11 a.m. on Wednesday, May 27.
An official recommendation form must be completed in its entirety and those in any other format or late submissions will not be accepted.
The form may be picked up at the Cesar Chavez Junior High School office, 2701 Eastgate Blvd., or from the District Office at 2503 Lawrence Street, Ceres.
Forms may also be downloaded by visiting the CUSD’s webpage, clicking on the home page section that says “Help Rename Cesar Chavez JHS” and going to the recommendation form link, or visit
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSf7vcITA34p21sQejDszqMS_lmsuDLsLbTEUzCXduz0XUQfKw/viewform
Completed forms may be returned to any CUSD school or mailed to: CUSD Student Support Services, 2503 Lawrence Street, Ceres CA 95307.
Persons who may wish to serve on the ad hoc committee may include parents or guardians, staff, students, Board members, and community representatives however ad hoc committee members are excluded from submitting names for consideration.
Interested persons must be available to meet on Saturday, May 30, 9 a.m. to noon at CCJHS, and if needed, on Monday, June 1 from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. at CCJHS.
To apply to participate in the ad hoc committee, call 209-556-1550 no later than Thursday, May 21 at 4 p.m.
Any questions about the renaming process may also be directed to the above number.
A number of school districts are in the process of removing Chavez’s name after UFW labor union legend Dolores Huerta revealed that the late farm labor union founder sexually assaulted and got her pregnant twice.
Huerta made the shocking claim after the New York Times published the claims of former United Farm Workers (UFW) workers Ana Murguia and Debra Rojas who say they were sexually abused by Chavez as teens. Both told the Times that they remained silent for decades for fear of “tarnishing the image of a man who has become the face of the Latino civil rights movement, his image on school murals and his birthday a state holiday in California.”
Huerta publicly revealed that she was sexually abused by Chavez, which resulted in two of her children, a secret she kept for 60 years to protect the farmworker movement. She gave up the two children to adoptive families.
She said that the formerly revered UFW founder Chavez sexually abused her as a young woman and decided to speak out after Murguia and Rojas told the Times that Chavez sexually abused them over a five-year period in the 1970s, beginning when they were 12 and 13. When asked why she kept her secret so long, Huerta said she “believed that exposing the truth would hurt the farmworker movement I have spent my entire life fighting for.”
On Instagram Huerta wrote: “As a young mother in the 1960s, I experienced two separate sexual encounters with Cesar. The first time I was manipulated and pressured into having sex with him, and I didn’t feel I could say no because he was someone that I admired, my boss and the leader of the movement I had already devoted years of my life to. The second time I was forced, against my will, and in an environment where I felt trapped.
“I had experienced abuse and sexual violence before, and I convinced myself these were incidents that I had to endure alone and in secret. Both sexual encounters with Cesar led to pregnancies. I chose to keep my pregnancies secret and, after the children were born, I arranged for them to be raised by other families that could give them stable lives.”
