On May 13, 1975, more than 1,000 University of Washington (UW) students participated in a march to protest the firing of Gary Padilla, director of the Chicano Studies program, and Juan Sanchez, director of the Chicano division of the Office of Minority Affairs. Rosa Morales, a secretary in Padilla’s office, was also suspended for 15 days. The employees were accused of “insubordination” and making threats against the university during a meeting in April 1975 about hiring a Chicano dean. They denied making any threats, and two committees investigated the alleged confrontation. Neither committee found evidence that would be grounds for dismissal.
In the days following the dismissals, Chicano faculty and staff members at UW resigned in protest and Chicano students organized the march shown in this image. UW administration negotiated with the Chicano staff, and Padilla and Morales were rehired at the end of May. Juan Sanchez was not rehired. The employees who resigned all returned to UW. The dispute between UW administration and Chicano students, staff, and faculty was larger than the dismissals of Padilla and Sanchez and the suspension of Morales. It was focused on the lack of Chicano representation on the faculty and lack of programs and classes that Chicano students wanted. In May 1975, UW had only one Chicano faculty member with tenure and no deans. UW’s first Chicano dean was hired in September 1975.
This image shows the protesters gathered in Red Square on May 13, some with fists raised. The march began off-campus at UW’s Ethnic Cultural Center and ended at Red Square, in front of the UW administration building. In addition to marching, the students boycotted classes for two days and held a teach-in in Red Square on May 14th.
Caption information sources: “Chicano Staff Resigns at UW,” by Richard Hardesty, Seattle Post-Intelligencer May 8, 1975 ; “1,000 in UW Rally Protest Firing of Chicano Staffers,” Seattle Post-Intelligencer May 14, 1975; “Chicano Staff to Stay at UW,” by Solveig Torvik, Seattle Post-Intelligencer June 11, 1975; “Chicano to be UW Associate Dean,” by Joel Connelly, Seattle Post-Intelligencer September 10, 1975.
