Trigger Warning: Sexual assault and pedophilia

Last October, Dolores Huerta came to the Lohman Theater to speak out against recent ICE abuse. Midway through, she briefly discussed her experience with the United Farm Workers and Cesar Chavez, saying that she parted ways with the movement due to disagreements with Chavez. Little did we know that she was carrying a secret, silent burden this whole time. Half a year later, she can now proudly declare to every Foothill student passing by the Sí Se Puede Plaza, that her silence, and the silence of every other survivor ends here. 

The news startled everyone, when it was revealed that Cesar Chavez, once a famed civil rights icon and cofounder of the united farm workers, had sexually abused Dolores Huerta. Chavez also abused two young girls, Debra Rojas and Ana Murguia. The abuse started when they were only 12 and 13 years old.

The revelation of his crimes sparked important conversations at Foothill College about his now tainted legacy and the long pervading problem of sexual abuse within our communities. English Professor Hilda Fernandez lamented, “It’s such a great tragedy to hear this information, this really horrible information of one of our leaders, right?” In the middle of Foothill’s campus we had a plaza named in his honor. Catalina Rodriguez, the Dean of Students at Foothill wrote in an email how, for Latino/a/e students, it was “one of the few spaces on campus where they felt visible and represented.” To truly honor that representation changes had to be made.

On Monday May 11th, the square formerly known as Cesar Chavez Plaza was formally renamed Sí Se Puede Plaza, the famous rallying cry of Dolores Huerta and the United Farm Workers. Rodriguez said this change “reflects a shift from honoring a single individual to honoring the collective movement, recognizing farmworkers, social justice efforts, and the many voices that have contributed to those struggles.” 

This process wasn’t instantaneous. In response to it all, English Professor Hilda Fernandez, changed her curriculum to allow her students in Latino/a Literature to discuss what happened and to support each other, as well as contact Rodriguez and Laurie Scolari, VP of student services. “I wasn’t even thinking about the plaza at the beginning,” said Fernandez. “It was just, what do students need? How do I make space to honor this brave action and to honor survivors?”

“So they offered some suggestions.” she said. “And then from there, they had a lot of great ideas, which was to, first of all, cover the monument.” She notes how the following day, Scolari came by and covered the podium in Sí Se Puede with a teal blanket, and a ribbon placed in the middle. Teal is the color used to represent survivors and to bring awareness to sexual assault. Flowers were embroidered onto the blanket as well. Later on, she took her students to the Plaza along with Scolari and Rodriguez to help facilitate conversations. 

“It was a beautiful ceremony, and so we were just out there for a bit; a lot of students wrote post-its,” she said. ”Both [Rodriguez and Scolari] came and met with my students in particular and talked about the significance of honoring the many survivors that we actually have at Foothill, that don’t share because of stigma or wanting to be private.”

Some organizations involved with the renaming process were Organización Latino Americana (OLA) and the Puente cohort. Fernandez, whose part of OLA along with Rodriguez, helped to facilitate conversations within the Puente cohort, where they discussed the renaming process two times, with, thanks to her, tons of student input. A request was then sent to the Mission Informed Planning Council (MIPC), where it was talked about in their weekly Friday meetings April 17, where its new name was approved. It was then passed to the Chancellor’s Advisory Council before finally being approved by the Board of Trustees on May 11th.

“I learned that a lot of our community are survivors, so I would like all of us to consider Dolores Huerta’s bravery and to learn of how we could prevent sexual violence,” said Fernandez. “And for those survivors who hold their secret in silence, I would like to share that I see them, that we see them, that we honor them, and if and when they’re ready to share, that we’re here to support them. And that they’re always courageous and that they will always be brave.

If you are a survivor, know that Foothill College has Resources for you. And, if you need someone to talk to, go to RAINN’s National Sexual Assault Hotline.