Fresno State announced that it will remove the statue of late United Farm Workers co-founder Cesar Chavez from campus.
University President Saúl Jiménez-Sandoval announced the decision in a campus message on Wednesday.
Driving the news: The university will remove Chavez’s statue after the New York Times published a report Wednesday detailing several allegations of Chavez sexually assaulting girls and raping fellow UFW co-founder Dolores Huerta.
Flashback: Fresno State erected the statue of Chavez in the university’s Peace Garden in 1996 to honor the farmworker activist.
What we’re watching: Jiménez-Sandoval will convene the university’s Peace Garden committee to work through the removal process.
Fresno State has covered the statue as the first step in the process.
What he’s saying: “I am deeply saddened and disturbed by the allegations being reported about César Chávez; this reporting is compounded by the painful statement made by Dolores Huerta this morning,” Jiménez-Sandoval wrote in his campus message. “These profoundly troubling claims about the rape of women and minors call for our full attention and moral reckoning by removing his statue from our campus.”
Jiménez-Sandoval said Fresno State’s values are grounded in dignity, respect and care for one another.
“Our university is part of the Central Valley, a region directly shaped by the farmworker movement and its enduring impact on labor rights, opportunity and justice,” Jiménez-Sandoval wrote. “The legacy of those struggles continues to shape our identity – to instill pride and recognize the strides we’ve made towards securing greater dignity across our community. Indeed, we must now honor that history by acknowledging the harm done to the victims while we continue to highlight the immense value of the farmworkers whose hard work and sacrifice continue to feed our nation.”