By Carol Gachiengo
Arizona Daily Wildcat
November 7, 1997

MEChA celebrates 30th birthday

Thirty years after its inception, one group persists as a voice for Chicano students across Tucson, across Arizona and indeed across the nation.

That group is Movimiento Estudiantil de Chicanos de Aztlán - and MEChA members are vocal right here in Tucson.

All 600 MEChA chapters nationwide will celebrate 30 years of activism today, with parties and get togethers across America.

"In 30 years we have accomplished a lot. In the next 30 we want to accomplish more," said Josué Limon, MEChA president at the University of Arizona.

"But we need to realize that life isn't a bed of roses. Things are better now than 30 years ago, but they can go downhill," he added.

The UA group, along with 67 other southern Arizona MEChA chapters, will celebrate with a reunion today at the El Rio Neighborhood Center - among them organizations from Pima Community College and eight local high schools.

Limon said his group will take this opportunity to propose the idea of an on campus Chicano dormitory and community center to gather MEChA alumni for consideration.

Secretary of the UA MEChA group Carolina Carbajal said she is particularly concerned about declining rates of Chicano high schoolers going to college.

"We bring them to campus and introduce them to Chicano students here," she said, speaking of the UA MEChA high school outreach program.

"We want them to get to know people on campus so they won't think it's for other people," she added.

Carbajal said the drop out rate for Chicanos in high schools is high, but among Mechistas, high-school MEChA members, the graduation rate has increased by 70 percent.

"The purpose of being a student is to make a difference after you graduate," said Carbajal. "Mechistas on the other hand try to make a difference to the community while they are still students as well as after they graduate."

Limon added the El Rio Neighborhood Center celebration will be a colorful event thanks to the PCC's MEChA chapter, which made banners and decorations for the event. Plenty of food will be on hand along with a Latin American band playing Andean music during dinner, he said.

An on site historical display will tell the story of MEChA's UA achievements from 1969 to date.Plans also call for an open microphone for speakers to address the attendees.

"It would be hard to choose a speaker because everyone has something to say," explained Ben Lopez, MEChA's regional representative.

According to Carbajal, MEChA plays an important role in ensuring that past generations progress does not go to waste as well as initiating whatever changes need to be made for the betterment of the Chicano community.

Limon says that MEChA's greatest challenge is apathy.

"We have to keep going. For those of us who have made it , it was thanks to past Mechistas. We have to fight really hard for future generations to have a better life," said Limon.