Efforts are underway to rename Cesar E. Chavez Multicultural Academic Center, a Back of the Yards elementary school.
School officials and the local school council are gathering feedback and suggestions for a new name for Chavez Academic Center, 4747 S. Marshfield Ave., a Chicago Public Schools spokesperson said in an emailed statement. Neighbors have until Friday to submit suggestions for a new name using this online form.
Last month, a New York Times investigation revealed multiple women have credibly accused Chavez of grooming, raping, and sexually abusing them.
At the time, parents and current and former students of the elementary school said they were shocked, confused, and felt like they’d been lied to about Chavez, previously seen as a hero for his work in the farmworkers’ rights movement.
The school should not be named after someone who abused girls as young as some of the students who walk the school’s hallways, and keeping Chavez’s name sends the wrong message to young people, parents, and neighbors previously said.
On March 25, the local school council voted to start the name change process. Four public meetings were held March 30-April 2 to gather feedback on potential new names for the school, the CPS spokesperson said.
The school can be renamed after a place, thing, or person, according to CPS policy. If suggesting the name of a person, the person must have been deceased for at least six months and cannot be a religious figure nor a relative of a school employee or the local school council.
Once the period to submit suggestions closes on Friday, students and staff will vote on their favorite options before presenting the local school council with three name suggestions, the CPS spokesperson said.
The local school council will then vote on the proposed names at one of its monthly meetings. Once the council votes on the name change, it needs to be approved by CPS officials, including the school’s network chief and the Chicago Board of Education.
Pilsen’s post office, named after Chavez, is also in the midst of getting a new name, and Chavez’s likeness was removed from a Pilsen park mural last month.
