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On October 1, 1968, Chicano (Mexican American) students at the University of Washington, mostly from the Yakima Valley, establish the United Mexican American Students (UMAS), later changed to MEChA (Movimiento Estudiantil Chicana/Chicano de Aztlan). The group signifies the first major cohort of Mexican American students at the UW. It will be instrumental in establishing similar chapters throughout the state.

In addition the group took part in the Chicano civil rights movement in Washington state including the agricultural wildcat strikes in Yakima Valley and the grape boycott at the University of Washington.

Sources: Oscar Rosales, "Chicano/a Movement in Washington State History Project Timeline: Movimiento [Movement] from 1960-1985," Seattle Civil Rights and Labor History Project website accessed September 17, 2006 (http://depts.washington.edu/civilr/mecha_timeline.htm); Erasmo Gamboa, "History Makers: The Chicano Students of 1968," Contact (University of Washington), Winter 2002.

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