March  20,  2013
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UW-ÂWhitewater celebrates Cesar Chavez Day By Claire Armetta Staff  Writer
JosĂŠ  VĂĄsquez,  a  member  of  the  UW  System  Board  of  Regents,  spoke  at  the  University  Center  Hamilton  Room  on  March  12  in  honor  of  Cesar  Chavez  day,  and  dis- cussed  the  past,  present  and  future  of  Latinos  in  the  United  States.  “When  it  comes  to  the  Hispanic  presence  in  the  United  States,  others  DUH GHÂż QLQJ ZKR we  are  and  what  our  future  should  be,â€?  VĂĄsquez  said.  “What  I’m  chal- lenging  Hispanics  to  do  is  take  re- sponsibility  for  de- Verdecia Âż QLQJ ZKR ZH DUH and  what  our  future  should  be.â€? Chavez  was  a  Mexican-ÂAmeri- can  activist  in  the  mid-  to  late-Â1900s.  He  was  an  activist  for  animal  rights  and  was  mostly  known  as  being  the  best  known  Latino  activist  for  civil  rights.  Chavez  day  is  celebrated  by  promoting  service  to  the  community. Â
VĂĄsquez  used  the  work  of  Chavez  and  the  barriers  he  broke  for  farmer’s  working  rights  as  inspi- ration  to  live  inclusively  and  work  collaboratively  with  one’s  passions. “Cesar  was  able  to  reach  out  across  the  spectrum  of  human  kind.   That’s  a  lesson  we  have  to  learn,â€?   VĂĄsquez  said.   “The  other  thing  that  we  need  to  learn  from  Cesar  Chavez  is  to  make  a  commitment  to  a  cause  that  you  have  passion  for  and  follow  it.â€? Throughout  VĂĄsquez’s  speech,  there  were  reoccurring  ideas  con- cerning  inclusiveness  in  diversity.  He  said  he  tries  to  encourage  stu- dents  of  all  racial  and  ethnic  back- grounds  to  interact  with  each  other  and  go  outside  their  comfort  zone. VĂĄsquez  said  he  believes  that  universities  could  play  a  large  role  in  increasing  this  dialogue  and  comfort  between  diverse  racial  ethnic  groups  among  campus.   He  believes  this  would  highly  EHQHÂż W VWXGHQWV LQ WKH work  place. “Students  are  going  to  be  put  in  environments  where  they  will  have  no  control Â
over  who  they  are  working  with,â€?  VĂĄsquez  said.   “And  if  you  never  left  that  comfort  zone,  all  of  the  sud- den  you  are  coming  across  a  racial  ethnic  group  that  you  have  never  interacted  with,  and  it  creates  prob- lems.â€? Sophomore  Orlando  Verdecia  is  the  Admira  La  Musica  de  Las  Americas  director,  a  participant  in  the  Latino  Student  Programs,  and  he  serves  on  the  executive  board  of  Latinos  Unidos.  He  agreed  with  many  of  VĂĄsquez’s  statements. “VĂĄsquez  did  speak  about  a  lot  of  issues  that  are  still  new  and  old  in  the  Hispanic  community,â€?  Verdecia  said.   “I  feel  that  I  personally  gained  some  sort  of  insight  on  what  being  Hispanic  really  is.â€? Verdecia  and  VĂĄsquez  believe  that  UW-ÂWhitewater  is  doing  well  in  terms  of  diversity,  but  both  saw  possibilities  for  improvement  and  expansion. “As  far  as  diversity,  I  feel  White- water  is  doing  pretty  well.   We  have  many  different  organizations  for  all  different  cultures,â€?  Verdecia  said.   “I  feel  like  as  a  community  what  we  could  do  to  improve  is  kind  of  unify Â
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JosĂŠ VĂĄsquez, a member of the UW System Board of Regents, spoke in the UC Hamilton room about the impact of Cesar Chavez and his relation to students and diversity.
all  of  the  different  organizations  and  resources  on  campus  to  come  to- gether  as  one.â€?  VĂĄsquez  said  he  believes  uni- versities  as  a  whole  could  improve  on  diversity. “My  encouragement  for  univer- sities  is  to  not  only  bring  in  color,  but  also  make  sure  that  those  stu- dents  are  graduating,  because  at  the  end  of  the  road,  if  you  don’t  have  your  diploma,  no  one  cares,â€?  VĂĄsquez  said. The  speech  also  brought  forth  some  ideas  concerning  what  it  meant  to  be  “Hispanicâ€?  that  Ver- decia  believed  held  importance.
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“I  feel  like  VĂĄsquez  gave  insight  on  that  we  are  more  than  just  His- panic,â€?  Verdecia  said,  “but  we  are  our  roots  and  we  need  to  look  past  the  borders  and  barriers.â€? One  of  the  most  lasting  impres- sions  of  VĂĄsquez’s  speech  was  ar- guably  the  importance  of  passion  in  one’s  life,  and  this  closing  idea  VHHPHG JUHDWO\ LQĂ€ XHQWLDO “People  that  want  to  help  people  focus,  don’t  try  to  help  them  in  one- thousand  and  one  things,â€?  VĂĄsquez  said,  “choose  a  limited  number  and  really  be  persistent.â€? ArmettaCL31@uww.edu