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United Farm Workers leader Cesar Chavez stands outside the Capitol in Washington in 1979. File photo: AP\/Charles W. Harrity<\/p>\nUnited Farm Workers leader Cesar Chavez stands outside the Capitol in Washington in 1979. File photo: AP\/Charles W. Harrity<\/p>\n
The legacy of Cesar Chavez, the labor leader and widely admired Latino icon, is deeply ingrained in local life.\u00a0<\/p>\n
His name is on Berkeley\u2019s 90-acre waterfront park, Cal\u2019s student center and schools and streets across the Bay Area and beyond. The farmworker movement he led through strikes, pickets, and protests has inspired generations of local community leaders. Jesse Arregu\u00edn, Berkeley\u2019s former mayor and current state senator, has said<\/a> he considers Chavez his personal \u201chero.\u201d California was the first state to commemorate his birthday, and in 2014, then-President Barack Obama proclaimed March 31 as national Cesar Chavez Day. It\u2019s a paid holiday for Berkeley workers.<\/p>\n So allegations reported in depth by the New York Times<\/a> this week that Chavez sexually abused and assaulted women and girls, including civil rights leader Dolores Huerta \u2014 his partner in founding the United Farm Workers Association \u2014 and girls as young as 12, left many in Berkeley and Oakland reeling and officials considering renaming local landmarks and changing celebrations of Chavez planned for the coming weeks.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s unimaginable to consider the trauma each victim had to stomach over the past 60+ years,\u201d Berkeley school board member Ana Vasudeo wrote in a statement.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s heartbreaking,\u201d said Oakland Councilmember Noel Gallo. \u201cFor me, it\u2019s someone I\u2019ve honored, respected, and followed.\u201d<\/p>\n Gallo, who represents the heavily Latino district of Fruitvale, was a personal associate of Chavez, who died in 1993, and of Huerta, who is 96. They were always around the neighborhood.<\/p>\n Chavez\u2019s organizing \u201cmotivated many of us to not only speak out on behalf of our communities but to do the work \u2026 advocating for the humanity of not just farmworkers but those of us in the neighborhood,\u201d Gallo said.\u00a0<\/p>\n Arregu\u00edn, a son and grandson of farmworkers, wrote in a statement that he stands with Huerta and other survivors.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThe labor movement is larger than any one individual \u2013 it is a collective struggle rooted in human dignity and hard work,\u201d he wrote. \u201cOur collective movement must always center and advance social and economic justice for our most vulnerable communities.\u201d<\/p>\n Berkeley council member says city will not \u2018continue to honor a perpetrator of sexual violence\u2019<\/p>\n In Berkeley, where a solar calendar<\/a> inside Cesar Chavez Park honors his and Huerta\u2019s work on behalf of farm workers, officials said they are discussing changes.<\/p>\n \u201cI have been in touch with city of Berkeley leadership about reevaluating the ways in which our city currently honors Cesar Chavez,\u201d Southside Councilmember Cecilia Lunaparra said in an email. \u201cAs the daughter of Mexican immigrants and the first Latina on the Berkeley City Council, I am keenly aware that movements for justice and equity are always larger than a single figurehead, and that gendered and racial violence against Latinas, especially immigrants and farmworkers, has historical and structural roots.\u201d<\/p>\n Councilmember Brent Blackaby, who represents the northeastern corner of the city, said he was \u201cstunned and dismayed\u201d to learn of the allegations.<\/p>\n \u201cWhile we can\u2019t formally take action on this until the Berkeley City Council meets, I\u2019m confident our city will move swiftly to respond,\u201d Blackaby said in an email. \u201cWe have zero tolerance for abuse and will not continue to honor a perpetrator of sexual violence.\u201d<\/p>\n In a statement, Mayor Adena Ishii said the city would continue to honor the larger farm worker labor movement of which Chavez was a part.<\/p>\n Blackaby, Ishii and Lunaparra all praised the victims for their courage.<\/p>\n California Gov. Gavin Newsom on Wednesday said he was still processing the news. The Democratic governor wouldn\u2019t commit to making any changes to the state holiday.<\/p>\n The farmworker movement \u201cwas much bigger than one man,\u201d Newsom said. \u201cIt\u2019s about labor. It\u2019s about social justice, economic justice, racial justice.\u201d<\/p>\n UC Berkeley\u2019s student center is named after Cesar Chavez At UC Berkeley, the four-story Cesar E. Chavez Student Center<\/a>, just off the campus\u2019s main plaza, houses a cafe, student advising and other services.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cWe are aware of the serious allegations that have been reported regarding Cesar Chavez,\u201d UC Berkeley spokesperson Will Kane said in an email. \u201cLike many in the community, we are deeply troubled by these reports.\u201d<\/p>\n Kane said the university has a building-name review process spearheaded by its Space Allocations and Capital Improvements Committee. Any student, faculty or staff member, or alum can submit a proposal to rename a building<\/a>, and must explain why they feel the current namesake\u2019s legacy is at odds with university values.<\/p>\n Kane said he wasn\u2019t aware of any pending applications to rename the student center. But Reddit commenters had already started a thread Wednesday<\/a> to suggest possible replacements, including the Dolores Huerta Student Center and, archly, the Men in Power are Dangerous Student Center.<\/p>\n UC Berkeley has previously used the committee review to remove from buildings the names of past honorees who held racist views or had slaves, including Bernard Moses<\/a>, John and Joseph LeConte, and David Prescott Barrows<\/a>. It axed the name Boalt Hall<\/a> from its law school after a lecturer discovered racist writings by 19th century attorney John Henry Boalt.<\/p>\n Berkeley school district will hold day of service instead of traditional Cesar Chavez celebrations this year<\/p>\n The Berkeley Unified School District said in an email Wednesday afternoon that its campuses will shift from traditional Cesar Chavez celebrations next week to a districtwide \u201cDay of Service and Learning.\u201d<\/p>\n The district said it takes allegations of harm against women and young people seriously, adding that the accusations involving Chavez conflict with the community\u2019s values.<\/p>\n \u201cWe also recognize that movements for justice are always bigger than any one individual,\u201d the message reads. BUSD said it will continue to honor the farmworker movement by \u201ccentering the collective struggle and the many voices,\u201d including immigrant workers and women leaders, \u201cwho have too often gone unrecognized.\u201d<\/p>\n No woman or girl should ever have to stay silent about the undeniable wrongness of men abusing their positions of power.\u201d \u2014 Beatriz Leyva-Cutler, former BUSD board member and Berkeley activist<\/p>\n Berkeley Unified began officially honoring Chavez and Dolores Huerta in 2012, later setting the dates for their commemorative period as March 21-April 10<\/a> in 2021 to align with the city of Berkeley\u2019s holiday and in recognition of Huerta\u2019s birthday.<\/p>\n During these 20 days, students learn about and celebrate the contributions of activists Chavez, Huerta, Larry Itliong, Philip Vera Cruz, and the wider Chicano, Filipino, and Latino communities. BUSD said it values the annual focus on cultural learning and community service, and emphasized that there are many other ways to uplift these communities and celebrate their legacies.<\/p>\n Vasudeo called the allegations \u201cheartbreaking,\u201d saying that they\u00a0 \u201cshould not take away from the accomplishments of the brave women who fought for the rights of farm workers in California.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIt is painful that, for so many years, young girls and women involved in the movement for change, social justice, and equality have sacrificed their physical and mental well-being and their bodies while remaining silent for \u2018La Causa,\u2019\u201d Beatriz Leyva-Cutler, former BUSD board member and Berkeley activist, said in a statement. \u201cNo woman or girl should ever have to stay silent about the undeniable wrongness of men abusing their positions of power. I stand in solidarity with the many brave mujeres who have led and continue to lead movements to advocate for our most vulnerable workers, children, and women.\u201d<\/p>\n Sexual abuse allegations against Cesar Chavez<\/p>\n The stunning allegations against Chavez drew immediate calls nationwide to alter memorials honoring the man who in the 1960s helped secure better wages and working conditions for farmworkers and has been long revered by many Democratic leaders<\/a> in the U.S.<\/p>\n In a statement released Wednesday, Huerta said she stayed silent for 60 years out of concern that her words would hurt the farmworker movement.<\/p>\n Huerta described two sexual encounters with Chavez, one where she was \u201cmanipulated and pressured\u201d and another where she was \u201cforced against my will.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI carried this secret for as long as I did because building the movement and securing farmworker rights was life\u2019s work. The formation of a union was the only vehicle to accomplish and secure those rights and I wasn\u2019t going to let Cesar or anyone else get in the way,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Huerta joined Chavez in 1962 to co-found the National Farm Workers Association, which became the United Farm Workers of America.<\/p>\n For many, they were akin to Martin Luther King. Jr. and Rosa Parks because of their work advocating for racial equality and civil rights.<\/p>\n![\"\"\/](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Solar-calendar-by-KAP-Chris.jpg\")
The\u00a0solar calendar installation at C\u00e9sar Ch\u00e1vez Park\u00a0in Berkeley is an homage to the famous activist. File photo: Cris Benton<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/img_9453.jpg\")
Chavez features prominently in a mural on the side of Mi Tierra, a grocery store in West Berkeley. Credit: Lance Knobel\/Berkeleyside<\/p>\n
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A bust of Cesar Chavez seen through the window of the UC Berkeley student center named after him on Wednesday. Credit: Ximena Natera for Berkeleyside<\/p>\n![\"\"\/](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Cesar-E-Chavez-Student-Center-1.jpg\")
The Cesar E. Chavez Student Center on the UC Berkeley campus. Credit: Ximena Natera for Berkeleyside<\/p>\n![\"\"\/](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/large-Cesar-Chavez-Park-drone-photo.jpg\")
Cesar Chavez Park in Berkeley, seen from a drone on June 14, 2020. Credit: Phil Rowntree<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/AP26077787399039.jpg\")
FILE \u2013 United Farm Workers leader Dolores Huerta, center, leads a rally in San Francisco\u2019s Mission District on Nov. 19, 1988, along with Howard Wallace, president of the San Francisco chapter of the UFW, left, and Maria Elena Chavez, 16, the daughter of Cesar Chavez, right, as part of a national boycott of what the UFW claims is the dangerous use of pesticides on table grapes. (AP Photo\/Court Mast, File)<\/p>\n