Joy Tan

Senior Shalin Dwivedi walks past a now-removed mural, gifted by the Latinos Unidos, depicting a variety of influential social activists, including César Chávez at the top that Palo Alto High School administration took down. According to visual arts teacher Tracey Atkinson, making a new mural would be a big time commitment for students interested. “People think it [a mural] can be done in like 5 hours, but really it’s more like 100 hours,” Atkinson said. “Sometimes students get very excited about an idea, but then don’t actually want to put the time in to make it happen because they’re very busy and that’s understandable.”

Yesterday, Palo Alto High School administrators removed a Student Center mural honoring social activists following recent sexual abuse allegations involving Cesar Chavez.

Formally located on the side of the cafeteria facing the school’s lacrosse field and El Camino Real, the mural features several influential activists, including Chavez, whose work shaped movements for labor rights, racial equality and social justice. 

According to Assistant Principal Jerry Berkson, once administrators became aware of Chavez’s portrayal in the mural, they chose to carefully remove and store the mural away.

“We [the administration] are going to cover it up,”  Berkson said. “I asked [visual arts teacher] Ms. [Tracy] Atkinson to take a look to see if she could do something with it and she said not really.”

The mural was gifted by the Paly Latinos Unidos Club in 2018. According to Crystal Laguna, adviser for Latinos Unidos, she is in support of the plan to store the mural away for now.

“Because the mural is currently displayed on plywood, it [was] carefully removed and stored while discussions continue regarding how best to honor the other  historical figures represented, as well as the dedication and hard work of the students and staff who contributed to its creation,” Laguna said. “I supported the decision to store the mural in light of recent events and allegations that have emerged concerning Cesar Chavez.”

According to a March 18 investigation by The New York Times, Chavez, former president of the United Farm Workers, has been accused of using his position of power within the farmworkers’ movement to groom and sexually abuse young girls and women. The article said the abuse allegations appear to be part of a larger pattern of sexual misconduct by Chavez, much of which has never before been publicly revealed.

According to Atkinson, she believes making artistic revisions to the mural would have been hard since the design doesn’t represent the visual arts program now.

“I told Mr. Berkson I would take a look at it because maybe it could just be something where a different person could be placed in the mural,” Atkinson said. “But I don’t think this mural represents what we do here in the visual arts. … So maybe we just make a new mural that is more representative of different cultures and is more fitting for who we see ourselves as a school.”

The Student Center wall has previously been the place of a similar controversy. Before the Latino’s Unido’s mural was installed in 2018, there was another mural made by actor and Paly alumnus James Franco. That mural was removed after Franco faced sexual misconduct allegations, drawing national attention.

Atkinson said that she might be interested in helping to create a new mural in place of the old one depending on the focus.

“It really depends on what because a lot of hours go into making it,” Atkinson said. “I think there are a lot of people and a lot of stakeholders who are interested in what goes up. I told Mr. Berkson he should speak with the people who originally decided to put it up and see what their intention was, and discuss. I would like to see a proposal.”