Enrique Lamadrid, University of New Mexico professor of Spanish and director of Chicano Studies, said the time has come to change the name of Chicano Studies, although content and commitments will remain the same.
“The faculty of the program, its advisory committees, and Hispanic and Chicano faculty at large in the institution are overwhelmingly in support of a name change for the program, to update, and more truly reflect its goals, objectives, and student population,” Lamadrid said.
Students, the most important part of the equation, have been consulted through surveys, placement testing, and ongoing conversation. The catalyst and reason for acting now is that the UNM 2005-2007 Catalog is in process.
In addition to campus support, Lamadrid said they have also advised community groups concerned with UNM’s future, such as the Hispanic Round Table.
Lamadrid said that individuals and groups use terms to identify themselves. Other terms are used by non-group members to identify specific cultural or ethnic groups. The terms are called “ethnonyms.” He said that U.S. Hispanics/Latinos/Chicanos are a diverse group with multi-faceted national, racial and cultural elements constituting identities.
“The range of ethnonyms is broad, and depends on the preferences of each group. Although they refer to cultural, national, and political groups, ethnonyms are very personal,” he said.
The largest group of U.S. Hispanics is connected in some way to Mexico, historically, culturally and through immigration. The second group is of Caribbean origin, namely from Puerto Rico, Cuba and the Dominican Republic. The third group includes a broad collection of others.
“A characteristic linking these groups is a present or past relationship to the Spanish language,” Lamadrid said.
Spanish Heritage Language programs identify and teach students connected in some way to the language. At UNM, the majority of the Spanish Heritage Language students are either native New Mexicans or foreign and U.S. born Mexicans, he said.
Lamadrid said hundreds of students have taken Spanish placement tests as heritage students and only eight to nine percent chose “Chicano” as the preferred ethnonym.
“The vast majority identifies with terms like ‘Mexicano,’ ‘Hispanic or Hispano,’ and ‘Mexican American,’” he said.
With UNM's designation as a Hispanic Serving Institution, Lamadrid said, “Our goal is to find a way to serve a 90+ percentile in such a way that does not immediately threaten or disrespect their identity. Identity formation is a personal process that cannot be imposed from without. It is formed by family, education and community,” he said.
“The content of existing courses and program design will not change, only titles
of intro courses. If a consensus is achieved, the new name for the program will be Southwest Hispanic Studies (SWHS), as of the next Fall 2005 catalog. The only additional catalog change for the minor is an upgrade of the Spanish requirement by one course, and the inclusion of a service learning component in the senior, or capstone, seminar,” Lamadrid said.
A Southwest designation will create instant identification with other units at UNM, including the Southwest Hispanic Research Institute (SHRI), Center for Southwest Research (CSWR), Center for Regional Studies (CRS) and Center for the Southwest.
The name change will also connect and identify with several UNM departmental undergraduate and graduate concentrations in Southwest and Chicano Studies, including Spanish, American Studies, English, Linguistics and others, he said.
Lamadrid said that Chicanismo and the Chicano Movement continue to be a part of UNM’s history and future. Therefore, he said, the term ‘Chicano’ is honored as an integral part of the history of Mexican American activism in the United States, which neither began nor ended with term itself. The term “Chicano” is used historically, to refer to the Chicano movement, in its social, political and cultural aspects. Chicano as a literary term is viable and will continue to be used in titles and literary histories.
“Unfortunately, the term ‘Chicano,’ with the newly ascribed meanings of the 1970s and 1980s, never made it very far past the walls of the university. The revisionist meaning of the term was never very widely accepted in most Mexican American communities,” he said, noting that today “Chicano” is a largely a “college” term, with those using it connected in some way to academe.
In university settings across the Southwest, many Chicano Studies Programs have changed name. Only a few retained the term, such as the Universities of California at Los Angeles and Santa Barbara, the latter being where the Chicano Studies academic movement began.
Because of ambivalence toward the Chicano ethnonym in many communities, prominent programs such as the one at the University of Texas, Austin, became “Mexican American Studies,” he said. “I wish it were that easy at UNM,” he added.
At UNM, many units and programs have changed titles to broaden their focus. El Centro Chicano changed to El Centro de la Raza with a mission to serve a broad range of students. Another example is the Chicano Politics course taught in Political Science. Its name was changed long ago to Latino Politics, Lamadrid said.
Many alternative program names have been discussed at UNM, including Latino Mexicano Studies, U.S. Latino Studies and others. Lamadrid’s favorite is “Nuevo MeXicano Studies.”
“It is an all-inclusive term of Xicanos, the archaic spelling of Chicanos; Mexicanos. It places New Mexico and Mexico more prominently on the map of curriculum and research. The critique is that the name should be more recognizable and less contrived,” he said.
Although many national groups are not fully comfortable with the term Hispanic, it has broad acceptance and historic usage in New Mexico. Hispano is preferable to many, but the translation would needs explaining as well, he said.
“Southwest” reflects a northeastern point of view, making it a term of compromise.
“At least it extends the region far beyond New Mexico,” he said. “By broadening our scope and including more students in the program, the way will be paved for an undergraduate interdisciplinary major, our ultimate goal,” Lamadrid said.
Contact: Carolyn Gonzales, (505) 277-5920