A UC Berkeley worker removes Cesar Chavez’s name from the student center Thursday. Credit: Brandon Sánchez Mejia/UC Berkeley
Workers removed César Chávez’s name from a UC Berkeley student center on Thursday, according to the university, as the fallout continues from a New York Times investigation that revealed multiple women had accused the formerly-revered farmworker leader of sexually abusing them, some while they were teenagers.
The unnaming came after a rapid but formal review by a campus committee, including hundreds of public comments that campus officials said overwhelmingly supported removing Chávez’s name from the center.
“When these allegations came to light, we moved quickly to do the right thing,” UC Berkeley Chancellor Rich Lyons said in a statement. “The committee’s review was thorough, the community’s voice was overwhelming and the conclusion was clear.”
The center, which was built in 1960 and renamed for Chávez in 1997 after a student campaign, will be called simply the Student Center until a separate renaming process is complete. Chávez died in 1993.
Across California, where Chávez became famous for helping build the United Farm Workers union and leading a nationwide grape boycott to draw attention to farmworkers’ struggles, communities have scrambled to respond to the allegations about his past. His name is being scrubbed from monuments, streets and other landmarks, including the Berkeley waterfront park that formerly bore it. State leaders rechristened the March 31 holiday in honor of his birthday as Farmworkers Day.
“Credible allegations of sexual abuse, particularly involving women and minors, constitute a profound violation of the core values UC Berkeley upholds,” a group of campus administrators and alumni wrote in their proposal to remove Chávez’s name from the student center. The group also suggested that the center ultimately be renamed for fellow farmworker movement icon Dolores Huerta, who built the union with Chávez and others, and is also among the women who have accused him of sexually assaulting them.
It’s not the first time UC Berkeley has removed an honoree’s name from a building after reconsidering whether they were worthy of the honor. Historical figures whose names were wiped from university buildings after it was revealed they held racist views or owned slaves include Bernard Moses, John and Joseph LeConte, David Prescott Barrows and John Henry Boalt.
Berkeleyside partners with the nonprofit newsroom Open Campus on higher education coverage.
“*” indicates required fields