The Chicanx Latine Faculty Task Force scheduled five events to celebrate Latine Heritage Month, but one event in particular has been partially delayed.
Oct. 5 was originally designated as the official dedication and renaming of the South Forum building to Campesino Forum to honor the labor farm workers within our region. It will feature a blessing of the forum, documentary screenings, and poetry reading.
While the other events will still be held that day, the official dedication has been postponed, however, to Nov. 2.
Sarah Seekatz, Professor and Cultural Awareness Program Chairperson at Delta College helped to clarify some of the changes.
“There may be some slight alterations to the event, for example no mariachi and food, but the film screenings, Q&A, and poetry readings will continue as planned,” Seektaz said.
The renaming of South Forum has been a two-year joint project between FCAP, the Black Faculty Task Force, and the CLF Task Force.
The project targeted the North, West, and South Forums to rename them after Tony Fitch, Dawn Mabalon, and Campesinos.
Last year saw the approval for the renamings in a vote by the Board of Trustees.
This May, after conversations regarding signages took place, Oct. 5 was announced as the date and was what the CLF Task Force initially worked toward.
Incidentally, the celebration will occur during a Chicano Ethnic Studies class.
Alberto Gutierrez, the professor for that course, expressed his enthusiasm to have the celebration occur for his students to witness.
“It is a privilege to witness this historical occasion. It is crucial to recognize that our nation’s foundation is rooted in a rich tapestry of immigrants and indigenous peoples, and the renaming of the South Forum to the Campesino Forum carries profound symbolism,” Gutierrez said.
Mario Moreno, an art professor at Delta College, who served as the Chair of the Campus Facilities & Cultural Climate committee, clarified why the changes occurred for the original date.
Also occurring on Oct. 5, starting at noon, is the Indigenous People’s Day Celebration, which sees speakers and dancers celebrate the contributions of Native people.
Starting at 10:30 a.m., the activities planned for the Campesino Forum celebration grew to a large amount that would have been challenging not to overlap with the following event.
“We split it up so that now we have Oct. 5 to celebrate the educational aspect of the recognition. We don’t want to name a building and have people not understand the significance. On Nov. 2, we want to have this grand opening in which we officially dedicate the three forum spaces,” Moreno said.
Administrators interested in attending the event expressed concern that other unrelated responsibilities would not allow them to.
Since the CLF Task Force was already having trouble organizing all the activities within their time slot, the date changes became all the more convenient for all parties involved.
“The programming would have been really hard to work all of these things in one day. That does not even include what the Black Task Force was planning, or FCAP,” Moreno said.