As activists take to the streets to protest tightening legislation for illegal immigrants, University of California, San Diego (UCSD) will celebrate the 40th anniversary of the 1966 farm workers’ march organized by labor leader Cesar Chavez, who fought with boycotts, mobilizing and fasting to improve conditions for agriculture workers. Chavez formed the National Farm Workers Association (NFWA) and in 1966 marched with grape pickers from Delano, Calif. to Sacramento to protest low wages. The grape strike marshaled into a nation-wide boycott that lasted five years, gained the support of U.S. Senator Robert Kennedy and resulted in the first major farm labor victory in U.S. history. California designated March 31 a paid state holiday in honor of Chavez, who was born on that day in 1927. He died on April 23, 1993. UCSD will honor Chavez’s life with a month-long celebration, beginning with an awards luncheon during which UCSD Chancellor Marye Anne Fox will honor activist Herman Baca, who worked closely with Chavez, and other Chicano leaders, including Bert Corona and Reies Tijerina. Baca founded the Committee on Chicano Rights, which has a strong community presence in National City. He donated his Chicano civil rights archive to UCSD’s Mandeville Special Collections Library.The luncheon is Thursday, April 6, at noon in the International Center at the corner of Gilman Drive and Mandeville Lane. A discussion of “Border Health Issues and Physician Training” with focus on physicians’ experience working with the underserved is later that night, from 5 to 7 p.m. at the Jack Farris Student Lounge at the UCSD School of Medicine, located on the corner of Gilman Drive and Osler Lane. A one-act play called “Los Vendidos,” depicting the pressure on young Mexican Americans to assimilate and relinquish their culture, will be performed on Monday, April 10 at 5 p.m. at the Cross-Cultural Center, north of Lyman Drive. A discussion will follow on the historical coalitions between Mexican and Pilipino farm workers. The performance “Preemptive Strike (On the Barrio Streets of Your Mind)” will depict the situation for Latinos in the 21st century, using spoken word, parody and sketch comedy on Wednesday, April 12, 7 p.m., in the Visual Arts Building Performance Space on Lyman Drive. “Heroes and Legends” will use music and poetry to portray legendary Mexican and Mexican American activists, including revolutionary Emiliano Zapata, union activist Emma Tenayuca and civil rights leader Rodolfo Corky Gonzales. The performance will take place on Wednesday, April 26, 7 p.m., at the Price Center Theatre off Library Walk. The HBO film “Walkout” that tells the story of Chicana/Chicano students who led a movement for school reform in the late 1960s in Los Angeles will screen on Wednesday, May 10 at 7 p.m. High school teacher Sal Castro, who risked his career to support the students, will speak following the movie. Christian Zlolniski will speak about the lives of Mexican immigrants in Silicon Valley on Tuesday, April 18 at 3 p.m. Zlolniski wrote “Janitors, Street Vendors and Activists” (2006). The documentary film “Tijuana Jews” that explores a community blended with Jewish and Mexican cultures will screen on Wednesday, May 3 at Copley Auditorium, Institute of the Americas off Ridge Walk. All events are free and open to the public. UCSD is located at 9500 Gilman Drive. For more information call (858) 534-0236 or (858) 822-4059.