ASU and cities in the Valley have renamed holidays, sites and institutions honoring the late labor leader Cesar Chavez in light of recent sexual abuse allegations.
Multiple women detailed their experiences of facing sexual abuse from Chavez in a New York Times investigation published on March 18.
Born in Arizona, Chavez was a labor unionist and political activist who led the American farmworkers movement. He co-founded the United Farm Workers organization alongside organizers Gilbert Padilla and Dolores Huerta, who was one of the women who said Chavez sexually assaulted her.
The investigation sent shockwaves across the country. Action to rename things honoring Chavez has followed, particularly in Arizona.
ASU has changed the previously named César E. Chávez Leadership Institute to the Access ASU Leadership Institute, according to a University spokesperson.
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The city of Tempe has moved to change the name of Cesar Chavez Day, a holiday celebrated on March 31, to Day of Recognition for Women Farmworkers "to honor their contributions through work, service and leadership," Tempe Mayor Corey Woods said at a City Council meeting on March 26.
"This is a council in a city that continues to stand with women and victims and survivors of sexual abuse," Woods said.
The new name was decided by Tempe's Six-Sided Partnership, which is composed of representatives from city management and labor organizations, according to a city of Tempe press release.
Woods noted that this is a one-time change and is only applicable for the 2026 holiday. Next year, the same group of people will come together again to decide on a permanent name.
During a March 25 meeting, the Phoenix City Council approved a motion to begin renaming the March 31 holiday to Farmworkers Day and remove Chavez's name from city assets.
"The reports of horrific abuse of girls and young women have been deeply shocking to all of us," Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego said. "As a community, we'd long recognized Cesar Chavez's contributions to labor rights and social justice, but due to the gravity of these allegations, we now come together as a community to decide how best to move forward."
Maya Dominguez, a doctoral student studying law and the vice president of external affairs for the Chicano/Latino Law Student Association, said Chavez was someone she was taught to look up to as a child.
"Cesar Chavez was taught to a lot of Latinos as this big figure, this role model type of person from when we were very young," Dominguez said. "It kind of removes that person as a role model because of the allegations."
Continuing to hold a figure in places of esteem after allegations of misconduct legitimizes their behavior, Dominguez said.
"Enabling that behavior can't be done," Dominguez said. "I am very proud of my community, the Latino community, for how quickly they held Cesar Chavez accountable for his actions."
Dominguez called renaming Cesar Chavez Day the "right move" and suggested calling it Dolores Huerta Day or Farmworkers Day.
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Luis Encinas, a senior studying marketing and a member of the Hispanic Business Students Association, said he grew up in a suburb outside of Yuma, Arizona, the city where Chavez was born.
"My grandma was a field worker, so growing up, we did learn about Cesar Chavez a lot and what he did, because it was important for people like us, specifically people where I'm from," Encinas said.
As he got older, Encinas learned more about Chavez and already had mixed feelings about him before the allegations came out, he said, but the reports of abuse put a "final nail in the coffin."
Encinas emphasized that the migrant worker movement included more people than just Chavez.
"There were so many men and women (who) were involved in that," Encinas said. "He just happened to be the face."
Edited by Carsten Oyer, Jack McCarthy, Emilio Alvarado, Sophia Braccio and Ellis Preston.
Reach the reporter at msweador@asu.edu and follow @miasweador on X.
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