The Life and Legacy of Cesar E. Chavez

Background of Cesar Chavez Project

The idea to erect a statue of a Latina(o) at the University of Texas Campus was one that students had for sometime. With this purpose in mind, some of our Latina(o) students formed a group called “We are Texas Too” in the Fall semester of 2000. “We are Texas Too” in conjunction with the Latino Leadership Council conducted a student referendum in the fall of 2002 semester. Cesar Chavez was the leader that students selected through the referendum to be honored with a bronze statue at our university. Cesar Chavez was a civil rights and labor leader whose work as a spiritual figure reflected his commitment to social change. He is recognized as one of the most heroic figures of our time.

During the Spring 2003 semester, “We are Texas Too” worked with Student Government and the Orange Jackets to have two statues erected. The Orange Jackets is one of the oldest student organizations on this campus and they saw the need to honor a female with a statue at UT Austin. They selected Barbara Jordan as the person that they wanted to honor. Because of the hard work of these three groups and the support of the student body, a referendum was passed to collect a fee increase for a total of $2.00 per student, per long semester and summer session, into a statue fund (this involves a $1.00 allocation per statue). The effort of students made the Cesar Chavez and Barbara Jordan statues a reality!