A History of El Centro, Arnulfo Casillas: During the height of the Civil Rights era and the Chicano movement, students at UCSB protested and took over buildings demanding that the campus address institutional racism by recruiting and supporting students of color, hiring more professors and counselors of color, and establishing Black and Chicano Studies Departments. After the historic Plan de Santa Barbara took place at UCSB in 1969, Chicano students outlined a plan for higher education for Chicanos. To help make the vision of the plan become reality, in January 1970 William Villa, EOP's first Chicano counselor, opened the doors to building 406. The building was home to Chicano EOP, La Colleccion Tloque Nahuaque, the Chicano Studies Department, the Center for Chicano Studies, and Movimiento Estudiantil Chicano de Aztlan (MEChA). As a result, El Centro building 406 became UCSB's first cultural resource building.
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