Dolores Huerta Dies At 96; CSUSM Honors Her Legacy With $26,000 Scholarship Endowment
Cal State San Marcos remembered the United Farm Workers co-founder after she died at her home in Bakersfield, where she had helped unionize California table-grape growers.
By Pavel Henderson ·
Dolores Huerta, who co-founded the United Farm Workers union in the 1960s and led strikes that changed labor laws for California farmworkers, died on Wednesday at age 96. She died at her home in Bakersfield.
Cal State San Marcos marked her death the same day. The university held a campus observance, and President Ellen Neufeldt pointed to the farmworker movement's history. "Dolores Huerta's contributions remind us that the farmworker movement was built through the courage, sacrifice and collective action of countless individuals and families," Neufeldt said. "Farmworkers helped shape California's economy and our understanding of civil rights, and their legacy remains deeply connected to Cal State San Marcos and the communities we serve."
Huerta coined the phrase "Si se pute," which translates to "Yes, we can." The words appeared on the stairs leading to the plaza outside the CSUSM University Student Union. More than half of CSUSM students are the first in their families to graduate from college.
Huerta visited the campus at least three times. She came in 1997 for the dedication of the former Chavez Plaza, in 2006 to speak to students about civil rights, and in 2015 for an Arts and Lectures presentation on fighting for social justice in a global economy. About 1,000 people attended the 2015 talk, which sociology professor Xuan Santos organized.
In 2020, the university named the College Assistance Migrant Program office in the Extended Learning Building after Huerta. CAMP serves students from migrant and seasonal farmworker backgrounds. A brushed aluminum plaque placed at the office calls Huerta a "human rights activist" and states that "because of Ms. Huerta's advocacy, numerous California laws have aimed to improve the working conditions of farmworkers, affording rights and protections to immigrants."
Minerva Gonzalez, who has directed CAMP at CSUSM for years, spoke at that 2020 dedication. "As an undergraduate at Cal State Northridge in the 1970s, I was encouraged by Dolores Huerta, who was emblematic of the civil rights struggles of the day," Gonzalez said. "The historical impact of her efforts helped to create CAMP and is ever present in its programming."
The following year, Ann Hunter-Welborn and her husband, David Welborn, gave the university $26,000 to establish the Dolores Huerta endowed scholarship. One CAMP student receives $1,000 each year from the fund.
Huerta led strikes and boycotts during the 1960s and 1970s that unionized many California table-grape growers. She was arrested 22 times during that work. Former California Gov. Jerry Brown, former New York Sen. Robert F. Kennedy and President Barack Obama were allies of hers. Obama awarded her the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2012.
CSUSM history professor Carmen Nava said Huerta focused on other people when Nava spoke with her. "She was not about self-aggrandizement, about being famous or wearing fancy clothes, she was about making connections and helping other people," Nava said.
CSUSM also contributed to a memory book that the California State University system gave to Huerta as part of a systemwide tribute.
Source: CSUSM News
