Julie Chávez Rodríguez to commemorate her grandfather, César Chávez, at annual University of Chicago celebration

Julie Chávez Rodríguez

Julie Chávez Rodríguez, granddaughter of César Chávez, will deliver the keynote address at the fifth annual commemoration of her grandfather at the University of Chicago. The event will take place at 6:30 p.m. on Friday, April 14 in room 115 of the Biological Sciences Learning Center, 924 E. 57th St. Rodríguez, who follows in her grandfather’s footsteps as an activist in the United Farm Workers, is the programs director for the César Chávez Foundation. The lecture is free and open to the public.

Rodríguez is currently spearheading the César Chávez Foundation’s National Youth Leadership Initiative, a program designed to address academic and civic disengagement among American youth. She has also worked with the United Farm Workers on voter registration and community empowerment programs throughout California. Exposed to the farm workers movement at an early age, Rodríguez is an activist who studied U.S.-Mexican relations at the University of California, Berkeley.

César Chávez (1927-1993) was a labor activist and leader of the United Farm Workers who became a leading voice on farm workers rights and is credited with bringing national attention to migrant workers issues. The César Chávez commemoration is an annual event presented by the University of Chicago student group MEChA, with support from the Katz Center for Mexican Studies, the Center for the Study of Race Politics and Culture, the Hispanic Scholarship Fun, Student Government, and the Office of Minority Student Affairs.