In the 1960s, while farmworkers in California organized for fair wages and safer working conditions, similar efforts were gaining traction in Wisconsin. Cesar Chavez, a labor leader and civil rights activist, cofounded the National Farm Workers Association (NFWA) with Dolores Huerta in California in 1962. The organization, later renamed the United Farm Workers (UFW), led nonviolent strikes and launched the national grape boycott to highlight farmworker struggles. Around the same time, Wisconsin labor organizer Jesús Salas MA’85 cofounded Obreros Unidos to support migrant workers in the state. Salas connected with Chavez, and the two exchanged ideas and built solidarity between their movements. Salas even led a multiday march from Wautoma to Madison, using organizing tactics inspired by Chavez’s campaigns. Both leaders continued with their activism, but by the 1990s, Chavez had shifted some of his energy toward public speaking tours to spread awareness for the Wrath of Grapes boycott and raise funds for the UFW. It was during this time that La Colectiva Cultural de Aztlan, a student organization founded in 1986 to promote Chican@ culture and activism on campus, invited him to UW–Madison. On October 29, 1990, Chavez gave not one but two speeches. One was made during a surprise visit to Bascom Hill to speak with law students protesting anti-union law firm recruitment on campus. The other was his scheduled talk in Memorial Union’s Great Hall, where he spoke about the health risks of pesticides, the grape boycott’s importance, and the role students could play in supporting farmworker rights.