Program Description..
M.E.Ch.A. is a Registered Student Organization at the University
of Texas at San Antonio. We have an approximate 50 members
consisting of undergraduates, graduates, staff, faculty, and
community members. Our annual dues are only $10.00.
Our M.E.Ch.A. advisor is Dr. Ellen Riojas Clark, Ph.D., and
she can be contacted at 458-5575.
We are the only student-led organization that has lasted
from the Chicano/a movement of the 1960s to the civil rights
movement to today. We have been established at UTSA since
1974, and have since then been emphasized on our education
towards our youth, involvement in our communities, preserving
our culture, and handling social and political issues.
M.E.Ch.A. is currently involved with a mentoring program
and has an ongoing relationship with Margil Elementary School
in San Antonio School District's west side.
Meanwhile, M.E.Ch.A. members donate their time and knowledge
to help elementary students in their schoolwork. We were also
concerned with the flood that hit San Antonio and organized
a food drive to contribute to the victims of the disaster.
As members of M.E.Ch.A., we believe in the basic human rights
of everyone, and support other organizations that are into
the same causes as M.E.Ch.A.; therefore, we wish to achieve
the same goal of equality for everyone regardless of status.
In an organization such as ours, we pursue conferences with
other M.E.Ch.A. chapters throughout the country. We attend
these conferences in order to come into a consensus about
our agendas; furthermore, share idealistic ideas and endeavor
ourselves to make our organization a strong force in education,
community, and equality. M.E.Ch.A. has played a part in creating
outstanding leaders in the San Antonio community and beyond,
including Antonio Gonzales (B.B.A. Management "82), president
of the Southwest Voter's Education Project in California;
Monica De La Cruz (B.B.A. '97), ASCEND project director for
the Office of Community Initiatives for the City of San Antonio;
and Lionel Cantu (B.A. '97), assistant sociology professor
at the University of California-Santa Cruz" (Martin 6).
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