In 1993, after several attempts by faculty and students at the University of California, Los Angeles to change the standing of the Chicano Studies Program from an interdisciplinary program to a department, Chancellor Charles E. Young announced that the Program would not receive departmental status. The date was April 28th, 1993, the eve of Cesar Chavez's funeral. This decision ignited the passion and activism of many students and set in motion a sit-in demonstration by the Conscious Students of Color group over the welfare of the Chicano Studies Library, budget cuts, and the Chicana/o Studies Program and other Ethnic Programs at UCLA. Around 200 hundred students walked across the Westwood campus to the Faculty Center to protest the Chancellor's decision. The protest turned violent after Los Angeles Police Department and University of California Police Department officers appeared in riot gear at the Faculty Center. As a result, 99 students were arrested and UCLA pressed charges against the students for vandalizing the premises.

These actions set off rallies and demonstrations on the part of a variety of student groups such as MEChA (Movimiento Estudiantil Chicano de Aztlan), Latin American Student Alliance (LASA), and Students for Revolutionary Action, as well as community groups such as the United Community Labor Alliance, bringing together thousands of people to demand changes at UCLA.

The most dramatic demonstration, and the focus of this archival collection, was the 1993 hunger strike. Several students and one UCLA professor decided to protest what they considered an injustice on the part of the UCLA administration, represented by Chancellor Charles E. Young, through a fast to emphasize their demands. The hunger strikers were: Juan Arturo Diaz Lopez, Marcos Aguilar, Balvina Collazo, Maria M. Lara, Arturo Paztel Mireles Resendi, Cindi Montanez, Joaquin Manual Ochoa and Professor Jorge R. Mancillas.

The hunger strike attracted the support and attention of many recognized members of the community including State Senators Tom Hayden and Art Torres, State Representatives Lucille Roybal-Allard and Xavier Becerra, City Assemblywoman Hilda L. Solis, Mothers of East L.A. and many others. This event galvanized the community at large and resulted in one of the largest student and community mobilizations in the history of UCLA.

At the end of the hunger strike a compromise was achieved between the hunger strikers and the UCLA administration. As a result, the Cesar Chavez Center for Interdisciplinary Instruction in Chicana and Chicano Studies was created.