Raza Events Spotlight Hispanic Presence

On Tuesdays, sophomore Jacqueline Madrid heads down to "Chicano Corner," a meeting spot for Hispanic students on campus for nearly four decades.

But for Madrid, hanging out at Chicano Corner, located on Upper Sproul Plaza in front of the Martin Luther King Jr. Student Union, is more than just a lunch with friends.

UC Berkeley was a far cry from Madrid's high school in Inglewood, Calif., where Hispanic students dominated the student body population.

Arriving at the university, where Hispanics only made up 10.9 percent of the total undergraduate population in 2004, was a shock, she said.

"I don't feel like I can identify with anyone here. I don't see a lot of brown faces unless they're at Chicano Corner, in my Ethnic Studies classes, or at the Raza Center," said Madrid, an ethnic-studies and geography major.

To heighten a sense of identity and ethnic unity for students like Madrid, Raza Caucus, an umbrella organization made up of representatives from more than 20 Hispanic student organizations, started "Raza Tuesday" last year.

Organizers said the event is aimed at making a statement about the low numbers of Hispanic students on campus by encouraging Hispanic students to wear brown shirts and gather at Chicano Corner.

"We're not visible on campus unless we're on Chicano Corner," Madrid said. "The purpose is to say that we're here, acknowledge us because there are few of us."

Though the efforts were underway last year, this semester marked the first time organized efforts have been led by the caucus to put on events such as dance performances and food the first Tuesday of every month.

Organizers said the event has drawn around 40 students on average monthly.

While some students say the event provides a place to relax and take a break from studying, others say Raza Tuesday was meant to make a statement on behalf of the Hispanic students on campus.

"Raza Tuesday is a political statement in which we wear brown to show how few of us there are on campus," said freshman Livier Gutierrez, an intern for the Multicultural Student Development.

Raza Tuesdays are similar to "Black Wednesday", when students from the black community wear black shirts in an effort to shed light on the small number of black students on campus.

"Its purpose is to create fellowship and show community amongst the Black students on campus. Black Wednesday is used as a stage to promote events, organizations and general information to the community," said junior Pia Winston, executive director of the Black Recruitment and Retention Center.

Campus officials said Raza Tuesday also promotes unity among the Raza organizations and the campus's Hispanic community.

"The idea is to build more community and inclusiveness," said Lupe Gallegos-Diaz, coordinator for Chicano/Latino Student Development.

Some students, however, said they refrain from participating because they feel the event causes divisions within the student body.

"I understand that the purpose of Raza Tuesday is to create visibility but I also see it as a way of segregating and not including other groups; it stresses division," said senior Joel Portillo.

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