Movimiento Estudiantil Chicano/a de Aztlán, or MEChA (in English: Chicano/a Student
Movement of Aztlán), is a national organization that seeks to promote Chicanx unity and
empowerment through political action. The national organization goes back to the 1960s and
has over 400 loosely affiliated chapters. The University of Wisconsin-Madison chapter,
formerly known as La Raza Unida, came into being in 1977 and was originally made up of and
run by undergradaute students.
This collection documents MEChA activity at the University of Wisconsin—Madison from the
1970s through 2000s. The MEChA records contain an extensive collection of fliers around
anti-war and anti-imperialism demonstrations, anti-Reagan political action, women's rights,
sexual assault awareness, migrant labor organizations, and promotional fliers for Black,
Latinx, and Indigenous cultural events. This collection also includes newsletters from La
Onda; meeting minutes from La Raza Unida, MEChA, People of Color (a student organization),
and Chicano Studies Committee; bills and proposals; reports; statistics; materials from
MEChA conferences; the struggle for the creation of a Chicano Studies Department at
Univeristy of Wisconsin-Madison; union activity, especially related to migrant labor
organizations; and documents concerning the death of Rene Campos (a former MEChA member in
the 1980s who died in Madison police custody after being arrested), including correspondence
between MEChA and the police department, and documents concerning rallies/vigils against
racial profiling as a response to the death of Rene Campos.
