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The East Coast Chicano Student’s Forum is an alliance of Chicano and Latino organizations from East Coast colleges and universities. The ECCSF was established in 1972 through the efforts of a few dedicated Chicanos and Chicanas from Ivy League schools concerned with the conditions of Chicanos in higher education on the east coast. Among the issues which needed prompt addressing were curriculum matters, recruitment efforts and low retention rates that impeded the progress of a fast growing Chicano student population. When the organization first started it was composed of only Yale, UPenn, and Columbia. Now the ECCSF is a coalition of 22 schools with over 300 members and the numbers are growing. The following is a present list of schools on the ECCSF charter: Amherst College, Boston University, Brandeis University, Brown University, Bryn Mawr College, Columbia University, Cornell University, Dartmouth College, Georgetown University, Harvard University, M.I.T., Middlebury College, Mount Holyoke College, Princeton University, Smith College, Wesleyan College, Williams College and Yale University.

Every year four ECCSF conferences are held to tackle issues pertinent to the Chicano community specifically and to the Latino community as a whole. One of the priorities every year focuses on recruitment strategies to increase the amount of Chicanos and Latinos applying to and matriculating in East Coast schools. Among some of the more recent efforts undertaken by the organization to address this shortcoming is an extensive recruitment drive among inner-city high schools in the Los Angeles area during the 2004 ECCSF Youth Conference. In addition to this basic service provided to Chicano and Latino students the ECCSF host school also has the discretion to cover topics ranging from immigrant rights, healthcare, Chicano/Latino consciousness, discrimination, labor rights, and many other subjects of inquiry. Past themes have included “No Me Encierren: Class and Gender in Chicana/Chicano History”, “The Reemergence of Latino consciousness in the 1990’s,” and “The Creation of a Political Pocho.” Since most Chicanos are resident in the West Coast or Texas and therefore find it difficult to go home during the Thanksgiving holiday, the ECCSF Fall Conferences double as a time to gather and celebrate companionship and community. The two remaining conferences, one in February and one in April, occur to update members on the current affairs of the organization as well as to explain and respond to the serious political and social issues of the day.

Such is our contribution to the solution of the monumental problems that persist in our community. Our conferences promote social, cultural, and political development and, with our expanding presence on the East Coast, we can continue our mission to educate those not aware of our past, our present, and our future.