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El Laberinto, 1971-1987

cause of all the activity and work they were doing to fight racism and discrimination and raise consciousness on this campus. In the spring of 1973, for example, students held a Chicano conference which drew a thousand people to the UI. Jose Angel Gutierrez of the Raza Unida Party--the first independent Chicano political party in history--was the guest speaker. Bus loads arrived from Chicago, and the crowds that thronged the Iowa Memorial union where the conference was held shocked the University population.

If the University had previously believed that the Chicano and Indian movement on campus was merely an off-shoot of other student demonstrations during the sixties and early seventies. it was now faced with an articulate and organized group demanding participation and change within the system.

The semester following the spring conference, students were informed that the cultural center would be moved. So the old center was demolished, a parking lot put up in its place, and the new center was nicely tucked away into an obscure corner of campus. Then, the start of a whole new way of being.

A year before the move, the student union had wanted "programs"--it felt that the projects, as they were conceived, would not be totally effective unless funded on an on-going, regular basis,-- so the students went to the UI Student Senate to ask for money. This action, it was though, would help the student union in two ways: it would ensure that, year to year, the programs would not fail due to lack of funds; and, it would secure recognition from the UI that the purpose and goals of the union programs, and the policies and practices of the university. were mutually inclusive. At the same time, the students who were doing the work on the projects at the center had decided to try to get these jobs recognized as work/study positions in order to contribute to their financial need as well as to the cultural center.
As early as 1972, the fear and uncertainty of being unable to foment and continue the goals of the union and center was evident. The students believed they were responding to an overall "broad scheme" of change when the decision to fund union programs through Student Senate and pay work/study money for center jobs was made. There was an important change which took place in the way they perceived their outcome, as Chicano and Indian students working toward participation and change, in this "broad scheme" of things. Money was a factor in this change. The interjection of material concerns created a situation (contrary to the believe then) where today the interests of students is channeled into selective areas that neither demand nor effect any lasting involvement. But this was not the real cause of the problems and confusion that have beset the union and center today.

The years ago, the center and union both began in response to the moral and political crises that had been blighting Chicano and Indian peoples for many years. Assimilation, acculturation, genocide,exploitation. It was a response, initially--because these things had grown to such a pitch that survival was dependent upon rebellion--but it soon became an expression of peoples'spiritual strivings. The center captured all the energy of that time in poems and paintings, in song and dance. Students were exploring new forms in which to express themselves as peoples. They were taking the old forms of our history and heritage and turning them into vibrant new creations with the materials of tie day. Without this spirit we will lose the old and never advance enough to creat more that's new.

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cause of all the activity and work they were doing to fight racism and discrimination and raise consciousness on this campus. In the spring of 1973, for example, students held a Chicano conference which drew a thousand people to the UI. Jose Angel Gutierrez of the Raza Unida Party--the first independent Chicano political party in history--was the guest speaker. Bus loads arrived from Chicago, and the crowds that thronged the Iowa Memorial union where the conference was held shocked the University population. If the University had previously believed that the Chicano and Indian movement on campus was merely an off-shoot of other student demonstrations during the sixties and early seventies. it was now faced with an articulate and organized group demanding participation and change within the system. The semester following the spring conference, students were informed that the cultural center would be moved. So the old center was demolished, a parking lot put up in its place, and the new center was nicely tucked away into an obscure corner of campus. Then, the start of a whole new way of being. A year before the move, the student union had wanted "programs"--it felt that the projects, as they were conceived, would not be totally effective unless funded on an on-going, regular basis,-- so the students went to the UI Student Senate to ask for money. This action, it was though, would help the student union in two ways: it would ensure that, year to year, the programs would not fail due to lack of funds; and, it would secure recognition from the UI that the purpose and goals of the union programs, and the policies and practices of the university. were mutually inclusive. At the same time, the students who were doing the work on the projects at the center had decided to try to get these jobs recognized as work/study positions in order to contribute to their financial need as well as to the cultural center. As early as 1972, the fear and uncertainty of being unable to foment and continue the goals of the union and center was evident. The students believed they were responding to an overall "broad scheme" of change when the decision to fund union programs through Student Senate and pay work/study money for center jobs was made. There was an important change which took place in the way they perceived their outcome, as Chicano and Indian students working toward participation and change, in this "broad scheme" of things. Money was a factor in this change. The interjection of material concerns created a situation (contrary to the believe then) where today the interests of students is channeled into selective areas that neither demand nor effect any lasting involvement. But this was not the real cause of the problems and confusion that have beset the union and center today. The years ago, the center and union both began in response to the moral and political crises that had been blighting Chicano and Indian peoples for many years. Assimilation, acculturation, genocide,exploitation. It was a response, initially--because these things had grown to such a pitch that survival was dependent upon rebellion--but it soon became an expression of peoples'spiritual strivings. The center captured all the energy of that time in poems and paintings, in song and dance. Students were exploring new forms in which to express themselves as peoples. They were taking the old forms of our history and heritage and turning them into vibrant new creations with the materials of tie day. Without this spirit we will lose the old and never advance enough to creat more that's new. [emblem] 2