9068 Blanchard Student Center
South Hadley, Massachusetts 01075
United States In March of 1969, over one thousand Chicana/o students from across Aztlán gathered for the National Chicano Youth Liberation Conference in Denver, Colorado, sponsored by Crusade for Justice, the first Raza civil rights organization in the US It was followed a month later by a larger conference at the University of California in Santa Barbara. The documents written at these two conferences, El Plan Espiritual de Aztlán and El Plan de Santa Barbara, called for some community empowerment, cultural recognition, appreciation of a sense of history, Chicana/o studies at all levels of education, political involvement and greater access to education. One of the ways to achieve those goals was the creation MEChA. Soon after, many different Chicano, Mexican-American and Latino student organizations took up the name and ideas across the country.
In the fall of 1999, the growing number of Chicanas on campus and the absence of Chicana/o issues and concerns emphasized the need for an organization dedicated to Chicanas. After successfully organizing Pachanga 1999, hosted by Mount Holyoke and Smith College, the vision of a MEChA became a reality. Through increased attendance and participation in the ECCSF (East Coast Chicano Student Forum), its events and increased discussions amongst the women, the need for a MEChA chapter at Mount Holyoke College was affirmed.
The purpose of MEChA at Mount Holyoke College is to provide a forum for Chicana/o activism in the political sphere encompassing, but not limited to, social, cultural, and educational issues. MEChA is committed to seek an end to the exploitation of the Chicana/o community, to raise awareness of Chicana/o issues through self-education, and to recruit amongst the youth in order to promote self-determination.This is a campus group. Geographical Scope: Local Added on 12-04-2002 Updated on 12-04-2002 |
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