Keynote speakers were invited to partake in the convocation to honor Cesar Chavez by relating social justice issues to the Hispanic and Latino community on campus.
[2] Rosie Cabrera, director of the Chicano Latino Resource Center, and Jose Olivas, a MECHA member, worked together to organize the Cesar Chavez Convocation.
The partnership then began when Jose approached Rosie and proposed this idea that focused on how Chicano Latino people on campus can come together in a space characterized by leadership and social justice.
The keynote speaker who participated was Kent Wong, director of the UCLA Center for Labor Research and Education and professor of Asian American Studies.
By bringing in the best person to talk about the issue it offered El Centro the opportunity to collaborate on with the Asian American Pacific Islander resource center.
The ninth annual Cesar Chavez Convocation was held on May 16, 2012 with keynote speaker Jose Antonio Vargas, Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist, and founder of DefineAmerican.com and undocumented Immigrant.
Jose Antonio Vargas shared with the Santa Cruz community his experience about being an undocumented immigrant and the challenges he faced when pursuing his America dream.
[5] The twelfth annual Cesar Chavez Convocation was held on May 12, 2015, with keynote speaker Daniel "Nane" Alejandrez, executive director of Santa Cruz Barrios Unidos.
[5] The thirteenth annual Cesar Chavez Convocation was held on May 18, 2016, with keynote speaker Carmen Perez, UCSC alumna and executive director of The Gathering for Justice.
[7] The fifteenth annual Cesar Chavez Convocation was held on May 16, 2018, hosting activists present in the 1968 L.A. Walkouts: Yolanda Rios, Margarita “Mita” Cuaron, Bobby Verdugo, Paula Crisostomo, and John Ortiz.
[8] The sixteenth annual Cesar Chavez Convocation was held on May 14, 2019, with keynote speakers Judy de los Santos, political secretary of Union del Barrio, and Elias Gonzales, coordinator at MILPA.
[1] The first Nuestras Raíces: The Art of Community Empowerment event was held on April 8, 2020, hosting the poets Alan Pelaez Lopez and Yesika Salgado.
[2] The second Nuestras Raíces: The Art of Community Empowerment event was held on May 12, 2021, focusing on mutual aid, hosting Colectivo Revolunas and the Watsonville Campesino Appreciation Caravan.