about us
Hola Gente. We are Movimiento Estudiantil Chicana/o de Aztlan at the University of Southern California.
For those of you who are newcomers to this organization, we want to tell you a little of our history. Our organization began at the University of California at Santa Barbara in March 1969 when students, faculty, and community leaders met in response to growing unrest on the state of raza education. It was decided that there needed to be major improvements in education, especially in the population of raza pursuing university degrees. Organizers drafted El Plan de Santa Barbara to map out exactly how this could be achieved.
While El Plan was drafted to implement the changes, there was still the need for a group that would implement this change. There was a consensus that the path to liberation would come from passionate students who were dedicated to empowering their neighborhoods and their people. This was the birth of Movimiento Estudiantil Chicana/o de Aztlan and we are both proud and aware of the importance of our involvement in the movement.
Since its inception, M.E.Ch.A. has striven toward its primary goal of improving accessibility of higher education and the organization now spans across the nation. While our primary objective is to ensure that the doors to higher education remain open to Chicana/o students, M.E.Ch.A. also has strong components of cultural, political, and social awareness.
Plainly spoken, M.E.Ch.A. is committed to self-determination and liberation. We are here to encourage students to use their education for the good of the community. We believe in equality, education, justice, dignity and respect. We are proud of who we are and are proud of what we do. We are proud to be Mechistas; brothers and sisters en la revolucion.
In the past decades, M.E.Ch.A. de USC has been instrumental in creating a home for Chicano students at USC. M.E.Ch.A. de USC served a vital role in the foundation and establishment of El Centro Chicano de USC in 1972. Also, M.E.Ch.A. de USC worked continuously with faculty and administration to establish the Chicano Studies Program here at USC. We realize the importance of building unity in an institution where we are a small percentage of the student and faculty population. Developing and maintaining cultural identity is of great importance in such a vast, diverse university. We are here to help and support one another as we struggle to learn, and learn to struggle.
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