Honor and Survival 
The Wesleyan Latino Student Movement of 1969-70: 
An Ajúa-Campos Perceptive 
  
By 
Jose M. De Jesus '97 
  
Prof. Ashraf Rushdy 
Hewlett Foundation 
Latino History Individual Tutorial 
May 9,1997
Jose M. De Jesus 
 
 
 

"We were just trying to survive," said Peter Santana over rice, beans and chicken in a Peruvian restaurant in Newark, New Jersey. It had been over twenty-seven years since Santana was a freshman at Wesleyan University. Twenty seven years since the struggle, pain, progress, victory and frustration of that 1969-70 year that would change Wesleyan and Santana's life forever. Santana was eating lunch with a twenty-year-old Wesleyan Senior, one of 200 Latino Students at Wesleyan. He spoke with growing passion as the memories flooded back. Santana and three other men were responsible for establishing one of the greatest Latino presence's in the Ivy, potted-Ivy league schools. Every year Ajúa-Campos is in the top five as far as Student Budgetary Committee grant money is concerned. There the 20 year old sat, waiting to hear Santana's story, waiting to hear the great philosophical moment when mine and his college career would all make sense. Two generations of Wesleyan Latino men, "Yeah" he repeated, "we were just trying to survive." 

The four men that would later be the main thrust behind the founding of Ajúa Campos met during freshman orientation of the last all-male class in Wesleyan's history. All four of these men had outstanding high school degrees. All except one, Roberto Rivera (from Wisconsin) were from New York City Latino neighborhoods. They were Roberto Rivera, Peter Santana, Ladislao Santiago and Martin Sepulveda. The latter three men are Puerto Rican, Rivera is Chicano. These men had a great choice ahead of them, for they were hot commodities as a result of their high school successes. Santiago for one was accepted to Amherst, Williams and Cornell. The main reason he chose Wesleyan was because of Manuel Del Valle. 

Manuel Del Valle 

Manuel Del Valle took Wesleyan by storm. Bright, a good talker and very aggressive, Del Valle single-handedly took it upon himself to build a Wesleyan Latino community. In the fall of 1968, Del Valle's freshman year, he put together a proposal and got faculty and administrative support for the University to try to acquire a major grant from the Ford Foundation. Soon after Wesleyan received the grant, a grant which Del Valle immediately got working on. He planned to have a major Latino Student and faculty conference at Wesleyan, where various East Coast Latino students and faculty would gather and have an educational forum on the future of Latinos in higher education. The grant would also go towards supporting Del Valle's diversity efforts. 

Del Valle recruited students heavily, as well as made a call for greater numbers in Latino faculty. Being a New York Puerto Rican himself, Del Valle put special attention on other Puerto Rican males. Del Valle put forth a proposal in the fall of 1968, which would increase the number of Spanish speaking, or Latino students. As a result of his great efforts Wesleyan accepted a record 10 Latino men into the 1969-70 class, of which 7 of them accepted. Rivera, Santana, Santiago and Sepulveda were among those 7 to accept Wesleyan' admission. Del Valle's work went into the summer, where along with Wesleyan Administrators Olin Robison and Bill Roberts, he started the Eugenio Maria de Hostos-Wesleyan Club. Hostos was a Puerto Rican intellectual whom stood for Puerto Rican independence. This club would include some of the New York based men of the incoming class of 1973, and on May 19, 1969 document announcing the establishment of the club was signed in New York city by Santana, Santiago and Sepulveda, among three others. (2) Therefore the men that Del Valle recruited he worked with on the Ford Grant over the summer, and the first Wesleyan student Latino organization, the Hostos-Wesleyan Club, was born. According to Santana and Santiago, the class of '73 with the leadership of Del Valle was looking to a great semester. 

While working hard on his projects at Wesleyan, Del Valle was given an opportunity to transfer to Princeton University. Weighing his options, and seeing what he felt would be a fantastic opportunity at a school with greater resources, Del Valle left for Princeton to begin his second year in college. At Princeton Del Valle would go on to be a great activist, doing for the Princeton Latino community what he would have done for the Wesleyan community. 

The Environment for Latinos 

With 7 Latino Students, Wesleyan enjoyed the greatest number of Latinos in any school of its kind. The Ford Latino conference sponsored by Wesleyan had 25 students, a number that Santana thinks was the majority of Latino students in Ivy League and Liberal Arts Schools. Outside of Wesleyan's contingent at the conference, the school with the second highest number had less than 4 students. Santiago recalls how a car load of Wesleyan Latino men networked with students in other schools, and frequent visits to other schools, mostly All-Women colleges, gave a sense of a greater Latino community among schools. 
Why was Wesleyan different, why did they have bigger numbers however slight they may be? Wesleyan's numbers were different because of two main reasons. The first are Del Valle's efforts, which have already been outlined above. The second was the success that Wesleyan had in building an African American community. The 1969-70 year marked the founding of the African American Center, the precursor to C.A.A..S. The Fisk hall takeover of a year before had further solidified the African-American influence on campus. An experiment consisting of Latino and Native American students was therefore not a bad idea considering the success in the African-American community. Bill Roberts, then an admissions officer, was instrumental in the implementation of this program that admitted 10 Latino students, a number that is simply unprecedented in a school like Wesleyan. 

Starting out 

Del Valle's departure crushed the incoming Frosh, especially those men like Santiago who came to Wesleyan because of the promise they saw in Del Valle's leadership. The fall of '69 found these new students alone. Of the seven incoming Latino students, four of them immediately flocked together. Rivera, the only Chicano in the class, was a part of that flocking as well. The students mostly lived in Butterfield, with some of the African-American Athletes. The dorms according to Santana were sub-par, and their is a general feeling that the students were placed in some of the worst housing on purpose. 

Butterfield would become a key place for these men for it would be the place they would always gather. "A lot of our time was spent together"' Santana reflected, "we came from tight knit families." These students came from a world they had to get to know and master for over 17 years. For some of these men, especially the New Yorkers, the parochial and public schools they came from, the neighborhoods they lived in and sometimes their family situations were places that had to be struggled through, and mastery of these places was a challenge. The roots of the second generation Puerto Rican are deeply ingrained in whatever city they may reside, their home. Unlike their parents, whose life in Puerto Rico is still a part of their conscience, the second generationıs sense of identity was not as set. Concepts of being Puerto Rican in mostly white environments were alien to all of them. These two points, the connection to their urban homes, and their unsure sense of identity, made a predominantly white Middletown CT. extra difficult for these men. Add to this equation the fact that they had to be pioneers at Wesleyan and in Liberal Arts colleges in general, you start to see the difficulty that these freshman faced their first year at Wesleyan. 

Three of the seven incoming Frosh were married, Santiago and Sepulveda among them. Between their family homes, their family life in New York, and their newfound friends, time was limited for these men. 1969-70 was simply the wrong year for any student who attempted to settle down in their family and academic life. There was a political tension in the air that simply could not be avoided. Circumstances made these four men increase their political activity. 

Political Activity - Ajúa-Campos Founding 

Discussing the root of his political activity Santiago stated "This was a time, this was the time of the Young Lords and CUNY student protests. Coming from New York we saw political activity." Add to this the involvement of Santiago in ASPIRA (a National Puerto Rican-American Cultural /Political group), and you see these men were not strangers to politics. During the fall of '69 informal gatherings of Latino men, usually totaling from 4-7 men, would talk about some political issues. All the men were Puerto Rican except for Roberto Rivera, and conversation was usually about Puerto Rican independence, increase of Latino numbers at Wesleyan or the students' living situation. It wasn't long before talk of increase of numbers of Latinos crept into their conversations. Along with this talk came the resurgence of an older idea for university housing being set aside strictly for Latino students so that they could all live together their Sophomore year. The men figured that the best way to make their life easier at Wesleyan would be to bring more conscience Puerto Ricans and Chicanos like them in. "That's one thing" chimes in Santiago "It was all about Puerto Rican and Mexican, that was all we knew." The universal concept of Latino greatly espoused on today's campus was, not present during this time. In the east coast, specifically New York, the Puerto Rican community dominated Out west and in sections of the mid west, the Mexican migration made the Chicano community biggest among Latinos. All that these men knew was that more faces like them should be seen around campus. The Ford Conference held at Wesleyan in September of '70 also inspired the idea of increasing Latino faculty, as well as establishing a Puerto Rican studies program, a cause that came directly from the CUNY struggles in new York for a more representative education. The political talk among these men grew enough for them to consider starting a new organization. Ladislao Santiago was quite radical in his politics. According to Santana, Santiago and others felt that the Hostos-Wesleyan club was too bourgeoisie and that there was a need for a more militant Wesleyan Latino organization to be created in order to give them a vehicle to achieve some of their goals. 

During the late fall of 1969, Ladislao Santiago, Martin Sepulveda and Roberto Rivera created Ajúa-Campos. The name came from the interests of two of the founders. Ajúa was a Mexican war cry, made famous during the Mexican-American war. Campos is the last name of Pedro Albizu Campos; a Puerto Rican revolutionary that during the 30's and 40's lobbied legislated and fought for Puerto Rican independence. Campos was a personal hero of Santiagoıs', and was a natural choice to be the namesake of a Puerto Rican dominated militant organization. Soon after the formation of Ajúa-Campos the slightly apprehensive Santana joined Ajúa-Campos, feeling that unity was key to their actions. The core group of Ajúa-Campos was complete. Ajúa-Campos' militant program was now set to start. 

Militancy was nothing new to the late 60's, with the national emergence of Black power and the Black Panther Party for Self Defense, as well as the creation of the Young Lords, a Puerto Rican militant organization which took the Black panther example and applied it to Puerto Rican east coast and Chicago communities. The Vietnam War protest movement had also taken activism to the next level, where both rich white students could rub elbows in protest with poor black people. Ajúa-Campos was created at a time where militant action saw direct results. The militancy of the aforementioned Fisk Hall takeover had shown that militancy was a viable way of attaining goals on Wesleyanıs' campus. In his excellent history of Black Protest at Wesleyan, Davis explained how the late 60's were a time when the administration was willing to negotiate with protesting students. Ajúa-Campos stepped into this tradition boldly as the last days of the sixties wound down. 

Ajúa-Campos as an Organization 

"Ajúa-Campos was a very disorganized organization, we were kids". Santiago and Sepulveda have agreed upon Santanaıs statement. Ajúa-Campos met in a small Butterfield dorm room, the meetings were spontaneous. Inexperienced in campus politics, and busy balancing a freshman course load with family responsibilities, the members of Ajúa Campos did not have much time to set an organizational structure. "It was too Bourgeois to talk of by-laws and constitutions"' said Santana. Ajúa Campos was intent on emulating what worked elsewhere during this period of time, and this was action, not procedure. Meetings were informal, and according to Sepulveda, very heated. "We were not afraid to tell each other how it was," said Sepulveda. The group acted on consensus, and above all they talked and debated. Overwhelmingly the men felt that their mission was above all to "open the place up for others. "'(Santana) Their actions were never seen as being lasting, for some of them didnıt if they would be alive too long to see any impact they may have at Wesleyan. Santana insists that 95 percent of their time was on politics, and 5 percent were on academics. Above all the members became close too each other, their campus politics and their social lives being all together. They clung to each other for survival. 

Fall of '70 - A different world 

Santana, Santiago and Sepulveda all agree that the activities of Ajúa Campos during the fall of '70 must be taken into the context of its time to be really understood. "It was a crazy time" was spoken by all three of these men, and anyone else you speak to about Wesleyan during this period. Above all, the hottest issue in Wesleyan and the United States was the Vietnam War. Over 50 percent of the Argii of the year had some op-ed or article on the conflict, and student protest, from peaceful demonstrations in Hartford to moltov cocktails thrown into Downey house were the norm during a tumultuous time. 1969-1970 was a very difficult time to be a student. Protest against the war at Wesleyan was huge, and being that 69-70 was a key year in the escalation of the Vietnam conflict, protest was at its highest. The protest was such that the faculty joined in a resolution to officially call for the withdrawal of troops from the Vietnamese conflict. 
The members of Ajúa-Campos were not overly involved in the antiwar protest, but the idea of desperate times calling for desperate measures was on the mind of these men. Ladislao Santiago recalls moments in his Hewitt dorm room watching the draft lottery on Television. He wondered openly whether his number would come up. America was going through a time when they achieved their greatest success (Apollo 11) and were tumbling towards what may have been the greatest failure (Vietnam). 

Grievances and Demands 

The early spring of 70 saw great activity on the part of Ajúa-Campos. The organization was in the middle of a search for a Spanish Department appointment. During the previous fall and the early spring various members of Ajúa-Campos were working on the recruitment of Puerto Rican students. Peter Santana was personally responsible for visiting various schools in New York City, and trips were taken by Bill Roberts (Assistant Dean of Admission) to New York in order to recruit. A personal mission had developed among the men to increase the number of Puerto Rican and Chicano students at Wesleyan. This along with the idea of getting a Latin American students house (an idea that was born with Del Valle), was the impetus for an official declaration of 

Grievances and Demands. 

Dated February 19, 1970, and addressed to the Chancellor Pro Tem Richard M. Ohmann, the document titled "Ajúa-Campos Grievances and Demands" was 6 pages long. Before its actual list of demands, Ajúa-Campos introduced their concerns by giving a short history of the struggle for Latin Americans to establish themselves in American Universities and the Nation as a whole. The document goes on to say that "some universities have awakened" to the demands of increasing Latin-American student representation, but these schools like Wesleyan had engaged in a "slow, drawn-out, half hearted effort which does more harm than good since we are recognized by admission only to be shunted by negligence once on campus." The grievances then discuss the responsibility Wesleyan had to make the university "a more viable niche for the Latin Americans that are already here." The reasons for the grievances were stated as what they saw was too much work on Ajúa-Campos' part, and too little work on the part of the Wesleyan Administration to make Wesleyan a more livable and enticing place for the Latino student. It was seen as the responsibility of the University to back their commitment to Latino students by answering the demands of their representative organization. 

There were 10 demands given that day (See Appendix B for list of demands). 
  

• The first demand was a result of studies that had shown how minority students scored much lower on standardized exams than white applicants. The "unqualified" Puerto Rican applicant often had low SAT scores. 
• This section makes clear that Wesleyan should make special provisions for Latino applicants. The figure "95 percent", as crazy as it may sound, was according to Santana the way that you bargained in those days. "You said 95 percent, and hoped for 75 or something like that" said Santana. 
• The request for their own admissions dean was in keeping with the presence of Harold Davis, an African-American dean who was the main reader of African-American applicants. 
• This is a big one. This request for a house dates back to May of 1969. The hopes were to have a living/cultural center for the newly arriving students to feel comfortable going to. 
• The summer program was not new to Wesleyan, for a program existed there for African-American incoming freshmen. 
• The idea of Frosh living together went hand in hand with the request of a Latin house. The sense of family, closeness and general togetherness present in many Latino families when they arrived in the United States for a first time, is the same kind of environment that Ajúa-Campos was striving to continue at Wesleyan. 
• The organization was already underway in the search for a professor, but the implementation of a program in Latin-American studies was a relatively new one in 1970. Student movements in New York for more representative curriculums were well under way, and this along with the Ford Foundation conference had inspired Ajúa-Campos to demand a department. 
• Along the lines of demand number 7, there was a demand for Latino professors to be the ones to teach the Latin-American courses. These professors would advise and show the Wesleyan community the intellectual power of the Latino. The hiring should not just be in Latin-American studies, the hiring should be spread out to all Wesleyan Departments. 
• Bad academic advising was seen as a major problem by those interviewed on this period. Special attention should be paid to the Latin-American students. 
• According to Santiago, Wesleyan employed no Latinos. Jobs that would increase the Latino presence as well as help the Middletown Latino community were not given out much. Some Ajúa-Campos members had made friends with what Santiago figures to have been a 30-40 family Latino community in Middletown. 
• The demands were signed simply as "The Brothers of Ajúa-Campos" 

The demands were given a formal response from the administration on March 20, 1970. This response fleshed out the following points. 
 

• a house would be granted to the students on 170 College Street. The frosh could live nearby perhaps with Latino Resident Advisor. All the upper-class Puerto Rican and Chicano students could live there if they wished. Some meals would be eaten at McConoughy dining hall, and some others would be cooked in the Latin house by a local cook. 
• The administration looked to enroll 8 Latino students for the coming year. 
• A faculty member would be searched for to fill the Romance Languages Department opening with expertise in Puerto Rican culture. 
• The faculty member would be advisor to Ajúa-Campos, and may read admissions files. 
• It was agreed that a summer program be organized to go along with the Black students summer academic enrichment program. 
• Further communication to be had regarding matters of policy between Ajúa Campos and the administration. 

Although the administration had offered to negotiate and work with the students on many issues, the uncompromising atmosphere of Wesleyan in the Spring of 70, along with the conviction of Ajúa-Campos to assure greater numbers of Latinos at Wesleyan the coming year caused for increased tension between Ajúa-Campos and the administration. Further letters were written by Ajúa-Campos regarding the issue of enrollment of Latinos. Ajúa-Campos insisted they be a part of the admissions process, as well as insisted that the number of Latinos to be accepted be 20 or more in order to guarantee bigger numbers than the 8 that the school had presented they were willing to accept. This issue caused a stand-still, for the school insisted they would not lower their standards enough to accept such high numbers of a Latino applicant pool they felt didn't warrant twenty acceptances. After further correspondence, the issue came to a head. 

Takeover 

Regarding the details of the Ajúa-Campos takeover of North College no source is truly certain. In fact, on some points the various sources tend to disagree. One thing is for certain, and that is that the action taken by the 5 men of Ajúa-Campos on April 9, 1970 stands as the most important moment is the history of Latino students at Wesleyan, if not for Latino communities in east coast schools in general. Yet little if anything is known of this takeover, and the memory of it has been in the shadow of the Fisk Hall takeover of 1968. Let us relive. 

"Desperate times call for desperate measures", and the situation became desperate for Ajúa-Campos in the spring of 1970. Word had gotten to Ajúa-Campos during the creation and submission of their Grievances and demands that the situation with the Admissions office was much grimmer than they thought. An assistant Dean of Admissions had informed the students confidentially that the Admissions committee was discussing ending the Latino and Native -American "experiment" in the coming years. The plan was to allocate the financial resources to the burgeoning African-American community. The decision of the admissions committee was secret, and on the surface they were taking a light-negotiating stance with Ajúa-Campos. 

The news sparked anger in Ajúa-Campos, and action was immediately taken to notify other sections of the student of color community about the universities possible actions. Ladislao Santiago personally went to the Native American student, House to figure out a way that the Latinos and Native Americans could bond together to fight the ending of Wesleyanıs' experiment. After a few talks, and great encouragement from Santiago, the Native American students decided to not take direct action in the situation. Ajúa Campos then went to Ujamaa and asked for support in what Ajúa-Campos saw as the kind of direct action that could benefit from bigger numbers. Ujamaa also balked from organizational support, although some individual members of Ujamaa lent their support of Ajúa-Campos' efforts. 

When April rolled around Ajúa-Campos was essentially acting on its own. The stand still over the number of Latino applicants to be admitted to Wesleyan had become unacceptable to Ajúa-Campos, and with admissions decisions happening in the first two weeks of April it was decided the time was right to act. 

On April 9, 1970 at about 1:OOPM, the admissions committee was in deliberation over candidates for the class of '74. Shortly after one in the afternoon, Ladislao Santiago and Martin Sepulveda entered the committee room, and emphatically stated that the floor had been taken over and no one would leave the building until the Ajúa-Campos' demands were met. Peter Santana and Roberto Rivera notified the secretaries on the third and fourth floors of the take over, and telling them negotiations would last all day gave them the option to leave. The secretaries promptly left, and all people were removed from the third floor admissions office but students and members of Ajúa-Campos. One Argus reporter, attempting to get into the third floor by using the elevator, was physically removed from the premises.  

Inside the board room Santiago led the negotiations with Robert Kirkpatrick, then Dean of Admissions. Richard Ohmann joined the meeting in progress. Immediately the committee began to re-evaluate some previously waitlisted candidates as well as take a second look at a couple of rejected candidates which could have the credentials to succeed at Wesleyan. At 7:00 P.M., after 6 hours of negotiations, Ajúa-Campos left North College with a promise to admit 16 applicants, as well as an agreement to let them read and help the admissions committee select the best candidates possible. "In the course of the take over, we went from being almost extinct to reading files," exclaimed Santiago. 

After the take over of North College, Ohmann wrote a response to Ajúa-Campos. In this document Ohmann cedes to increasing the numbers of accepted Latino applicants as well as allows for Ajúa-Campos to use their definition of what Latino is. There is a mention of Ms. Clara Lida, a Romance Professor that helped represent Ajúa-Campos in various school matters. Ohmann concludes by listing three of his own grievances regarding how the take over was forcefully done. Actions like those do not lend to discussion argued Ohmann. 

After more negotiation, 18 applicants were accepted to Wesleyan that year, of which 11 enrolled. The men of Ajúa-Campos managed to save the Latino community. 

An action like a take over was a big risk in this period, since expulsion was the threat to any action of this nature. In fact Santiago and Santana were brought before the Student Judiciary board on a couple of charges. The charges were dropped by the SJB when no evidence of violation of the student code was found. 
Santana, Santiago and Sepulveda all state that they acted to survive. Santiago suggests a bit more than that "we acted to keep our honor" he said. "The analogy is like if you're seeing someone getting beat up on the street by three guys. You can choose two things, stay and fight, or leave. If you leave your cowardice goes with you, and is there for you to justify. If you stay 3:1 becomes 3:2. If you leave and that person gets maimed or killed you will feel responsible." The beat up person to Santiago was the Wesleyan Latino community. "We had no choice" he continues. Santana agrees, stating that if things were going to bum down for the Latino community they would burn down with it. Sepulveda, a bit more reserved, makes clear that their actions were almost forced. How could they not act? 

The end of the tumultuous 1969-70 year brought more general turmoil. War demonstrations hit a peak during this semester, and the business of trying to attain an education was often interrupted by demonstrations, firebombing and even minor riots. For Ajúa-Campos the semester ended with the selection of the class of '74, along with preparations for a Latin House in the coming semester, as well as a push for a Puerto Rican-Studies program that they wanted to implement for the coming year as well. The mission of 1969-70 was complete, and somehow Roberto Rivera, Peter Santana, Ladislao Santiago and Martin Sepulveda; the founders of Ajúa Campos, had managed to set a foundation for a Latino community which now numbers over 200 students. Somehow they had saved the Wesleyan Latino community, and themselves. 

Prologue 

It is sad to note that since 1970, there has not been a single institutional addition to Wesleyan University, which directly benefits the Wesleyan Latino community. The struggles of the original members of Ajúa-Campos are still shared by the current Latino community at Wesleyan. It is time for the Wesleyan Latino community to take inspiration from the work of these men, and look to build new institutions through new movements. We owe it to these men, to our families, our communities and ourselves to not be complacent. The inactivity of the Native American community in the spring of 1970 cost them their presence on Wesleyanıs' campus. The Latino community must learn from the past to pave their own way, as well as secure safe passage for the future. 

With this, I respectfully end my activity and career here at Wesleyan with the image of Peter Santana and Ladislao Santiago sitting on Foss Hill watching the Class of '74, their class, graduate from the university. They never felt a part of the class of '74, and were not willing to pretend to belong, so they watched. But the class of '74 could be any other class of Latinos at Wesleyan, for their sacrifice and actions had made it possible for the Wesleyan Latino community to be one of the strongest and brightest in the United States. 

If they felt discomfort in their '74 graduation, I invite them to my graduation on May 25, 1997. A day I will dedicate to the memory of these pioneering men... 

Where are they now? 

Roberto Rivera, the Ajúa behind Ajúa-Campos, would not return to Wesleyan after his freshman year. Wesleyan was an environment he felt was too un-welcoming and crazy for him. He headed home to finish his education. He now works for the admissions department at University of California, Berkeley. 

After his sophomore year, Martin Sepulveda transferred to Yale in order to be a student, and concentrate mostly on his studies. He graduated with the Yale class of '74 and is now a physician in charge of Occupational Health services for IBM. 

Peter Santana went on to graduate from Wesleyan after taking a year off from school. He got his law degree from Rutgers Law School and has now started his own personal injury practice. He lives in Newark, New Jersey. 

Ladislao Santiago, the wordsmith behind Ajúa-Campos graduated with Peter Santana in 1974. He went on to Med. School and is now a Physician in South Carolina.