FOR RELEASE: Oct. 28, 1999

Dolores Huerta Launches CSUN Lecture Series
Featuring Phenomenal Women

The lecture, ³Womenıs Rights As Human Rights,² will take place from 7 to 9 p.m. in the Grand Salon of the University Student Union on the east side of the campus at 18111 Nordhoff St., Northridge.

The ³Phenomenal Women Distinguished Lecture² is an outgrowth of the universityıs ³Phenomenal Women Awards,² hosted each year by CSUNıs Womenıs Studies Department. The awards are given to California women who have made significant contributions to creating a more just and equitable society.

Organizers of the event said the lecture series was created to provide opportunities for a broader audience to hear some of the winners speak. The lectures will take place bi-annually.

Huerta received a ³Phenomenal Woman Award² in 1998.

She has played many key roles in the UFWıs evolution since its inception in the early 1960s ‹ from negotiating its first collective bargaining agreement to heading the unionıs national grape boycott and directing its political and lobbying efforts.

In the more than 30 years that she has spent organizing on behalf of agricultural workers, Huerta has confronted thugs and been arrested more than 22 times for civil disobedience.

She has also been the recipient of numerous awards and honors for her efforts, including induction into the National Womenıs Hall of Fame, the ACLU Roger Baldwin Medal of Liberty and the Eugene V. Debs Foundation Outstanding American Award.

For more information about Huertaıs talk or the lecture series, please call the Womenıs Studies Department at (818) 677-3110.