The annual César Chávez Lecture Series at Hope College will feature the keynote address “Cesar: My Academic Compass” by Dr. Aida Isela Ramos of the University of Texas at San Antonio on Tuesday, March 24, at 6 p.m. in the Maas Center auditorium.
The public is invited. Admission is free.
The talk will focus on the formative role of Cesar Chavez in Dr. Ramos’ identity as a Latina scholar and highlight the continued legacy of Chavez’s faith based social justice in current Latino congregations in the United States.
Ramos is an assistant professor in the Department of Sociology at the University of Texas at San Antonio as well as a Research Fellow with the Latino Protestant Congregations (LPC) Project. Her research is on the social experiences of U.S. Latino/as with a focus on education and religion.
The César Chávez Lecture at Hope is named in honor of César E. Chávez, a first-generation American, born on March 31, 1927, just outside of Yuma, Arizona. Having experienced the hardships of life as a farm worker firsthand, Chavez worked tirelessly to improve the lives of farmworkers and Latino families. He became the founder and president of the United Farm Workers of America. His legacy has impacted the lives of millions of people all around the world. He was passionately driven by these mantras “we cannot seek achievement for ourselves and forget about progress and prosperity for our community... Our ambitions must be broad enough to include the aspirations and needs of others, for their sakes and for our own”; and “Sí, se puede!” (Spanish for “Yes, it is possible”… “Yes, it can be done”). His work led to nationwide support and numerous improvements for union laborers.
Campus sponsors of the address include the Office of the Dean for International and Multicultural Education, Office of Multicultural Education and Latino Student Organization.
The Maas Center is located at 264 Columbia Ave., on Columbia Avenue at 11th Street.