The University of Arizona announced Tuesday it will remove César E. Chávez's name from a campus building and revert to using its previous name, the Economics building.
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Any university signage, maps, or other related materials with Chávez’s name will be removed by the end of the month, UA President Suresh Garimella said in a news release.
“This decision takes into account the concerns raised through the review process and reflects my responsibility to ensure that the names of our facilities reflect the university’s mission and values,” Garimella said.
César Chávez's name is taped over, and will be removed, at the building that bears his name on the University of Arizona campus.
The New York Times reported in March that two women said Chávez, an Arizona-born civil rights icon who died in 1993, began sexually abusing them when they were 12 and 13 in the 1970s.
Also, Dolores Huerta, who co-founded the United Farm Workers of America with Chávez, disclosed in the Times investigative report in March that he raped her in the 1960s.
In the wake of that report, Garimella asked the UA’s Naming Advisory Committee to review whether the school should remove or retain the name.
The committee delivered its report and recommendation on May 29, advising Garimella that the name "should be removed from any buildings and other public areas on any of the University of Arizona campuses as soon as possible."
The committee said it based that recommendation "on the overwhelming feedback that César E. Chávez does not represent the values of our institution and that 85% of the respondents to our survey and 100% of those attending our in-person sessions supported removal of his name."
Any future proposal for naming the building will go through the standard naming policies and regulations and will include opportunities for community input, UA said.
Leaders in numerous states and cities, including Tucson, and many other institutions have renamed holidays and altered memorials honoring Chávez in the last two months.
