Educator Profile: Consuelo Rodriguez
Educator Profile: Consuelo Rodriguez
BY Tatiana Villaseñor Carrillo
As Consuelo begins to walk me through her time integrating Chico State, we’re looking through a scrapbook she created documenting her early 20s during the 1960s. We reflect on her identity as a Chicana-Mexicana, and this often leads us to unpack the unraveling of her American name.
“This is what I was named when I got into Chico State, meaning students started calling me Taco because they let two Mexicans: two male Mexicans, one female Mexican, and the same thing with Blacks—two male Black and one female Black. My politics were in the same place, but at that point, I didn’t care. I just said what the hell, it’s not worth it… and that’s how Consuelo became Constance, then went to Cony here in San José.”
Within the deep pain was also a profound opportunity to build safety, support, and solidarity with others. She recounts Pioneer Week, a now-phased-out community tradition that began in 1915 at the regular schools and expanded into the university campus. The tradition celebrated the cultural erasure of Mexican and Indigenous campesinos and honored the whitewashing and conquest of the Anglo pioneer.
“Part of its tradition was crowning a Queen, and then there would be about 10–15 females walking behind the horse and carriage. We headed to the football game. There were other men in the back after the women, and some faculty, because it was the biggest thing in Chico. I mean, the town closed down, and you name it. The sad story… for me, I told you I stayed in a place like a dorm, you would just sign in and sign out, you had to be in at a certain time. I’m trying to think of the name of it, I know it’s in one of my journals… Something House. It was three-bedroom apartments: two doubles and a single. The person with the one-bedroom was from Salinas, and she was crowned the Queen of Salinas—blonde hair, you know—but a great attitude. And when they started messing with me and Armster (the Black female student), she just said, ‘No, no, no, no. You know what? I’ll call my family, I’ll call my friends from Salinas.’ Her and several other roommates, except one, when things got bad, she said, ‘You know what, you’re not walking alone.’ Versey Hall! I told you, Versey Hall. They said they were going to select a queen, too. And they had before. But it wasn’t a Mexican, and they selected me to be the queen, representing Versey, because each dorm had a queen. And Versey Hall, they were just so excited, about 95% wanted me to be the queen for Versey Hall and represent Versey Hall.
“Well, the university students went berserk, and some professors went berserk. Before we knew it, we had all this shit thrown at Versey Hall. The queen was white. The first queen, all the queens, were white. A Mexican? NO! ‘They’re walking on the streets with… You know, and they’re out in the fields picking. Look at her, she doesn’t even belong here, she belongs out in the field.’ But the majority of Versey Hall girls backed me up and stood by me, and three professors stood right by me. It was a fiasco, fights broke out… No, I didn’t stay with it; I didn’t want to be a part of what’s going on. I didn’t think we were going to win anyway, but I did think at least we put our foot forward.”
“Well, the university students went berserk, and some professors went berserk. Before we knew it, we had all this shit thrown at Versey Hall. The queen was white. The first queen, all the queens, were white. A Mexican? NO! ”
Conseulo transferred from San José City College to Chico State, where she would obtain a B.A. in Social Science and her teaching credential in 1967. The City of Chico ended Pioneer Week in 1990 after two nights of rioting.