CSUDH 2019 Dolores Huerta Graduation. Photo Courtesy of CSUDH.
By Licia Summerhill Staff Reporter
Graduation ceremonies are a time of celebration and culture. As a community, California State University, Dominguez Hills has had a long history of celebrating different cultures within separate ceremonies designed to bring together graduates and their families. However, questions have been raised as to why the Dolores Huerta Graduation Celebration recently changed its name to the Latine Celebration.
Dolores Huerta is a social activist widely recognized as the woman of the “Sí Se Puede” movement that mobilized farm workers in the 1960s. Huerta worked alongside Cesar Chavez and together they founded the National Farm Workers Association (now called United Farm Workers’ Union). She was instrumental in the boycott and worked to form unions that brought better wages and better living conditions.
Huerta is a pioneer of the Chicano movement and some CSUDH Toros did not want to see her name erased from the celebration.
The answer is found in the name. Huerta was a champion for many but not for all. In changing the name to Latine Celebration, no one is left out. The name now accurately reflects every Latin American country, not just Mexico and Indigenous communities displaced by war.
For the expansive Latine community within CSUDH, the celebration now includes all cultures, not just one.
Ana Medium, a CSUDH Latine Grad said, “I think changing the graduation’s name to Latine is really a great idea. The reason why is because Latine is a lot more inclusive of the Latinx community and those that might be part of the LGBTQ+ community,”
Medium is not alone. When visiting the Latinx Cultural Resource Center at CSUDH, many students and faculty had positive responses about the name change.
The celebration previously included many countries represented in Latin America, such as Peru, Columbia, Bolivia, the African Diaspora and more despite the previous name. However, now with the emphasis on Latine instead of a Chicana hero, students have a stronger voice in being united as they celebrate cultural diversity together.
“I think there’s a problem when we uphold community members like (Huerta) as a hero because we forget to see them holistically,” Medium added. “Let’s not forget that (Huerta) was actually against undocumented immigrants.”
Historically, Huerta advocated for farm workers but her focus and outreach did not include the larger community of undocumented folks.
Nonetheless, this year the celebration will include a new sash representing Latin culture that is different from the sarape used in the past to better represent the community. Recently, representatives have used meetings and social media to capture the voice of the graduating class, and with more inclusion, the celebration is set to be one for the masses.
Along with the Latine Graduation Celebration, there are three other annual cultural graduation ceremonies: the Asian & Pacific Islander Graduation Celebration, Douglass-Bethune Africana Graduation Celebration and the Lavender Graduation Celebration for LGBTQ+ communities.
The Latine Graduation Celebration took place on Friday, May 5 in the Torodome. Photos of the event can be found on La Casita’s Instagram: @lacasitadh.