EAST LOS ANGELES : UCLA Accepts Art to Pay for Vandalism

UCLA dropped vandalism charges against students who were accused of causing thousands of dollars in damage to the Faculty Center in a campus protest last year, and accepted two Chicano artists’ paintings in lieu of repayment.

The transaction closes a yearlong chapter in the students’ struggle and subsequent hunger strike, which resulted in the university establishing the Cesar Chavez Center for Chicano Studies. Seven students who were accused of misdemeanor vandalism and trespassing were ordered to pay the school for the damages.

Gronk’s “The Mug,” valued at $12,000 to $15,000, and Elo Carrillo’s “La Mancha del Don,” valued at $7,000, were donated to the university and will hang in the Faculty Center where the damage occurred.

The students, who held several fund-raisers and volunteered at a Downtown alternative high school to repay their debt, only came up with one-third of the $27,000 demanded by the university.

Gronk, who lives in the Eastside and was involved in protests in the 1960s, said he felt an affinity with the students. “I think we’re all in a struggle in some way or another,” he said. “It was something I hoped would help out, an offering that would be a gift.”