CALABASAS : Latino Youths Open Cultural Retreat

Continuing a tradition born during the civil-rights movement, about 75 Latino high school youths, some identified as potential dropouts, began a weekend conference Friday designed to inspire them to take pride in their ethnic origin and lead others to do the same.

The retreat on Soka University’s Calabasas-area campus is scheduled to include discussions about cultural differences, workshops on leadership skills, college information and visits by Los Angeles City Councilman Richard Alatorre, school board member Victoria Castro, Dist. Atty. Gil Garcetti and, possibly, actor Cheech Marin and actor/producer Edward James Olmos.

“I think this is probably the first time most of them have been surrounded by a total Chicano group of adults who are professionals and who want to spend time with them,” said Paula Crisostomo, a board member of the Educational Issues Coordinating Committee, which organizes the annual event.

“We make it a safe place for the students to be proud of who they are, and not be ashamed that they may not speak English so well or that they haven’t read the classics,” Crisostomo said. “This weekend is something they will take with them for the rest of their lives.”

Crisostomo, who attended her first EICC conference in 1968--the year more than 20,000 Latinos participated in the largest school walkout in U.S. history--said the events have a slightly different focus in the 1990s.

“We talk about more personal things now, like gender issues, family issues and personal safety,” Crisostomo said. “Times have changed. For instance, we just had problems figuring out where our buses were going to pick up the kids for the conference, because some of them are afraid to cross gang lines to stand in front of a school.”

The EICC, part of the National Latino Arts, Education and Media Institute, started holding the events in 1963, with funding from the Los Angeles County Human Relations Commission. After 10 years, the commission cut off funding.

The EICC resumed the program in 1989 with money from various sources, including private corporations, Hernandez and Alatorre, a former student participant in the conferences. Soka University has donated the use of its campus for the past three years.