A History of Chicanos at MSU

In the 1960s and 1970s, the Chicano and Latino student population began to grow as did the demand for Chicano studies classes. In the timeline below, we have chronicled important moments in the development of this community and the very beginnings of Chicano studies at MSU.

TIMELINE

The Late 1960s: The First Mexican Americans on Campus

In the late 1960s, there were only a handful of Chicano students at MSU, as Rosa Morales recalled. She estimated anywhere between 10 to 30 students. While that number seemed to grow over the years, there was a limited presence of Chicanos at MSU. For example, per a newspaper clipping from the time period, of the 370 enrolled "Spanish surnamed students,” which was how MSU identified Chicanos and Latinos during this time, only 40 were actively taking classes.

While there were not many Mexican American students, there were other Latin American Students at MSU at the time. Oral history participants recalled Puerto Ricans and students from Chile and Mexico, among other places:

"There were a lot of other Spanish surnamed persons at Michigan State, but they were from Mexico, from Central America, from the Caribbean, and Latin America. Those individuals did not identify with the issues of Mexican Americans.”

Analysis of the students coming from outside of the U.S. suggests that class differences prevented Latin Americans, who were from elite backgrounds, and Chicanos, who were mostly working class, in working together. Nonetheless, the handful of Chicano students pressured the university administration to increase Chicano recruitment.

Juan Marinez

Rosa Morales

The 1970s: Bringing More Chicanos to MSU

All of our oral history participants and the archival materials we examined pointed to the important role Jose Treviño played in bringing more Chicanos to Michigan State.

Mr. Treviño played a number of roles on MSU's campus. MSU Libraries states that Treviño was, "an MSU employee, student, and campus activist whose efforts were responsible for a significant increase in Chicano and Chicana student enrollment at MSU in the early 1970s. Mr. Treviño was an instructor in the College of Urban Development's Department of Racial and Ethnic Studies helping to develop some of the earliest coursework in Chicano Studies at MSU. As an older non-traditional student in the Sociology department, he was an advisor and mentor to the first Chicano student organizations and community activists." Indeed, in 1969, he became the director of Latin American Student Affairs under the Center for Urban Affairs.

In his role as director of Latin American Student Affaris, we see Treviño's most impactful legacy was in his recruitment of more Chicano Students. Juan Marinez recalled that, Treviño would travel to "Traverse City down to Adrian to Monroe, to Muskegon and Holland.... to recruit... Mexican Americans" to come to MSU. Many students recall the personal approach he took to recruiting them. Diana Rivera, who came to MSU in the early 1970s, recalled that by the time she arrived on MSU's campus there were, "like 200 [Chicano and Latino students] a lot of Chicanos and Puerto Rican students from Mid Michigan...Detroit- a lot of course, Grand Rapids, and we had migrant students come in." This was part of the efforts of Treviño and the first group of students who came in the late 1960s.

Through his work and those of the other Chicano students on campus, MSU's Chicano community was connected to Chicanos and Latinos in the state and the nation. Mr. Treviño and students helped to organize a Chicano visitation day to bring Chicano students from across the state to MSU to visit. He also managed the subscription of a number of Chicano and Latino newsletters that were popular during the Chicano movement.

Lastly, Mr. Treviño was not just vocal about Chicano issues. Newspaper records revealed that he worked with other student activists to help advocate for marginalized youth in Lansing; participated in discussions about violence towards African American students, and organized conferences on issues facing poor college students in the 1970s.

Jose Treviño

The 1970s: Bringing Chicano Studies to MSU

In the early 1970s, the few Chicano/a students at MSU quickly became friends and organized a MECHA chapter on-campus which developed from the previous MASS student organization. MECHA (“Movimiento Estudiantil Chicano de Aztlán;” in Spanish, Mecha means “wick” or “fuse”), was founded in 1969 at the University of California, Santa Barbara. It spread to other post-secondary campuses in the United States during the 1970s.

At MSU, MECHA was one of the vocal organizations that advocated for Chicano studies classes and a “Chicano unit” which would include Chicano staff, faculty, and new course offerings. Later, CHISPA, another MSU Chicano student org, would take up these demands. However, in 1970, it was MECHA whose demands included a specific number of faculty needed, the departments in which the faculty should be represented, and specific outlines for what each faculty member should be doing. Not only was the demand for these classes growing, but it was also argued that in order for these types of classes to be taught effectively and properly received by the students, the programs themselves must have a specialized expertise, effectively stating that these classes needed to be taught by people who have a deeper understanding of what the content itself really means.

Chicano students found two sympathetic professors who worked together to create MSU’s first Mexican-American studies course. Dr. Joel Spielberg, a professor of cultural anthropology, and Dr. Frank Pino, a Spanish professor, created an initial course which covered the history of the Aztecs to Mexican-Americans up until the 1930s. However, the administration at MSU in the late 1960s, was reported to “have continuously expressed strong opposition towards the establishment of a separate and independent Chicano unit” as quoted from a typewritten proposal “for Chicano Studies Curriculum” written by the MeCHA chapter at MSU.

Ultimately, Chicano students ended up with enough classes to have a Chicano studies concentration or cognate, but not enough for a minor degree. There was simply not enough faculty and resources dedicated to this area in the 1970s.

Exrcepts of "MECHA: Proposal for Chicano Studies Curriculum", Folder 61, Box 1, Jose Treviño Papers, Stephen O. Murray and Keelung Hong Special Collections, Michigan State.

Lansing State Journal, May 13, 1969

Sol de Aztlán was a newspaper that was popular with Chicanos on campus as well as in the greater Lansing area.

1970s: The Grape Boycott at MSU

Chicano students were active in a number of issues on their campus from bringing Chicano studies classes, advocating for more awareness about Chicano issues, and specifically in supporting the grape boycotts of the 1970s. UFW leader Cesar Chavez rallied support from local crowds during his speeches in the greater Lansing region. Surely, this helped students persuade the university to boycott grapes in the dining halls.

In the liberal spirit of the anti-Vietnam War Movement during the first half of the 1970s, groups of progressive white students at MSU supported the efforts of their Chicano peers in pushing the university to boycott grapes. Students also saw support from some Board of Trustee members, including Blanche Martin and Aubrey Radcliffe, two of the first Black trustees, and Don Stevens, a labor organizer and BOT member.

1970s: Chicanas at MSU

Chicanas at MSU dealt with issues that were prevalent in the 1960s and 1970s including sexism. This oftentimes came from their own community. Chicanas reported issues with obtaining higher positions in Chicano student organizations and not receiving credit they deserved for the work they did. This pushed many Latina women at MSU to advocate against the issue of machismo and run for e-board positions to be able to use their platform for all people. Women also worked against sexism beyond MSU and joined organizations that confront the issue at the state level with other Latinas in Michigan. Women also joined the Mujeres Unidas en Michigan group (MUM) that brought together Latinas from across the state to tackle issues they faced at the intersection of their ethnic, racial, and gendered identities.

Lansing State Journal, October 2, 1975

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