Students Protest Proposed El Centro Chicano Move
Students gathered at Tommy Trojan Thursday in protest of a proposal by USC to move El Centro Chicano's on-campus facility.
El Centro Chicano, which supports the Latino community of USC, has been located in United University Church for the past 33 years. If the University's proposal proceeds, the organization's space will move to the Ronald Tudor campus center.
A group of current and former students and El Centro supporters who called themselves El Centro Chicano Ambassadors demonstrated on Trousdale with a rally which involved speeches, traditional music, costumes and dancing.
El Centro Chicano Ambassadors' chief argument against the move is that the proposed new location is half the size of their current space and lacking resources.
USC student Isabel Bravo says she uses the resources provided by El Centro every day and cites the lecture hall and artist mural as her favorite elements of the current space.
"It's a great location because it's a bridge between the campus and surrounding neighborhood, which is largely Latino. With the added fences around the campus, this move will just make us even more separate," said Bravo.
"We've tried asking for meetings with Provost Garrett, and they haven't responded to us," said Bravo.
El Centro Chicano Ambassadors outlined a list of resources they say will be revoked if the cultural center is relocated. Among them, the Ambassadors cited free printing, free computer access and a lecture hall for studying, organization events and meetings.
El Centro Ambassadors set up a WordPress site encouraging supporters to write President Max Nikias and express disapproval. They also created a petition against what they describe as a "displacement" of their organization.
The University has said the relocation is due to financial reasons. As the university does not own United University Church, it currently rents the space for El Centro Chicano.
Tom Zaragoza attended the El Centro Chicano rally Thursday. He is an alum who graduated in 1995 and frequently enjoyed the services El Centro offered the Latino community.
"This concerns me because this was a home away from home for me and many students. I'm afraid the University isn't looking at it like that. They're just looking at it like office space," said Zaragoza.
El Centro Chicano has existed at USC for the past 40 years. Approximately 14% of USC's population identifies as Hispanic.
ATVN reached out to the USC administration for a comment, and did not receive an official answer.
Thank you so much for covering this important story and creating space for student/alumni/community voice to be heard.