WHO ARE ADALBERTO AND ANA GUERRERO
In Fall 2014 The Center Was Prouldly Renamed From Chicano Hispanic Students Affairs To The Adalberto & Ana Guerrero Student Center.
Professor
Adalberto Guerrero
Professor Adalberto Guerrero has spent his life in service to the education of Latinos and to the Tucson community. He taught generations of Tucsonans and University of Arizona students as an instructor of Spanish at Pueblo High School, and as a Spanish faculty member and Administrator at the University. He was also an activist for national legislation that changed the education of language minority students throughout the country. It is for this reason he is considered a pioneer in efforts to guarantee equitable education to all students in the United States.
Guerrero received his undergraduate degree in Spanish from the University of Arizona in 1957. He began teaching Spanish at Pueblo High School in 1957 and moved on to become one of the founding members of Pima Community College, where he served as Curriculum Specialist from 1969 to 1970, planning the Bilingual Education Program. Professor Guerrero became a full-time instructor at the University of Arizona in 1969. While here, he developed the Spanish for Native Speakers program, now known as the Heritage Speakers program. This program is still a major component in the Department of Spanish and Portuguese and remains a popular choice for Native Speakers pursuing a minor or major in Spanish. While at the UA Guerrero became the first Assistant Dean of Students of Mexican American Affairs, directed the New Start Summer Program, and was asked to form and chair the Mexican American Studies Committee to design and create the UA Department of Mexican American Studies.
Ana Guerrero
My husband Adalberto (Beto) and I met at Bisbee High School in September, 1945, when we were placed in the same freshman homeroom. For Valentine's Day, February 14, 1946, Beto gave me a box of chocolates and it was then, although Women's Lib was still far distant in the future, that I decided I would keep my maiden name forever.
I was born in McNeal, Arizona, one of six siblings. My father was Francisco Guerrero, originally from León Guanajuato México; my mother, Sara Jaramillo, was born in Morenci. I completed my grade school education in McNeal and subsequently enrolled in Bisbee High School. Beto dropped out of school after completing the freshman year to work in the Mines. I valued education and graduated from high school in 1949.
We were married in 1950 and in 1951 Beto entered the Army for a two year period. After his discharge he returned to the mines. However, his father and I conspired to force him to pursue an education. He applied for and was accepted at the University of Arizona inspite of having only one year of high school credit.
We came to Tucson in August, 1953 and very shortly after moved into 62A Polo Village (where the Uof A hospital and Medical Center are located), where we lived during the four years that Beto did his undergraduate work at the U of A and worked nights as a machinist at Hughes Aircraft.
I look back to our Polo Village days with nostalgia. They were happy days full of hope and great expectations. Our first daughter was 2 months old when we arrived and our first son was born in 1956 while we were in Polo Village.
Life moved rapidly after graduation. We were blessed with an additional daughter and another son. Beto taught first at Pueblo High School and then at the University of Arizona while he continued with his graduate studies. And all of a sudden, it seemed that Bilingual Education and the Chicano Movement, in addition to his professional obligations, were taking up all of Beto's time. His out of town travel multiplied... and all domestic responsibilities fell on my shoulders. Keeping house, shopping, paying bills, helping the children with their homework, visiting their classes, speaking to their teachers... driving to school activities, doctor's appointments, listening to their troubles, advising them, counseling them and loving and caring for them, exposing them our values while providing a safe and stable home environment...Yet, they were joyful and fulfilling days. We spent summers in Guadalajara the many years that Beto taught at the U of A NDEA summer institute. We drove through much of México. We also spent much time in San Diego and the Los Ángeles area with Beto's brothers. And too soon the kids were gone, all on their way to fulfilling careers. With the grace of God I had succeeded in a parent's most sacred obligation.
We are now retired and free to travel. We have visited more than half of our country including a two week stay in Hawaii.
In 1996 with Beto's two brothers, Roberto and Javier and their wives, we spent 5 weeks in Europe. Previously, with Javier and his wife JoAnn, we had been in England and some parts of Europe including Belgium and Holland. This time we visited Spain, France, Germany, Austria, Italy, Monaco and Andorra. Our luck held out. We returned to México numerous times and spent time in Alicante, Spain with dear friends. Then in 2003, with Dr. Pepe and Ceci Barrón, we enjoyed a most memorable 28 day cruise that took us to Italy, Malta, Cosrsica, the French Riviera, Barcelona, Lisbon, Casa Blanca, Morroco, the island of Madeira, and across the Atlantic to Tampa.
Javier and JoAnn waited for us in Venice in 2005 for a two and a half month vacation. Our travels now took us to Slovenia, Croatia, Hungary, Slovakia, Poland, and the Czeck Republic. We returned through Germany and Austria and enjoyed Italy from its most northern regions to the tip of Sicily. We were also in Quebec and Montreal. And in Costa Rica for one of our grandson's wedding.
Beto claims that I have certain bragging rights and I suppose that is what I am now doing: at age 66 I climbed the spiral stairs of the tower of the Alcázar de Segovia; at 72, in a trip with Luz Academy students, I conquered the Pirámide del Sol in Teotihacán; at 75 I reached the top of the Leaning tower of Pisa; and at age 80 I became a celebrity in San José, Costa Rica when I did nine Zip lines, the shortest 210 meters, the longest more than 420 meters.
We now keep close to home. That is, within the United States and give repeated thanks for a most rewarding life with our four children, five grandchildren, and four great-grandchildren. And it all started in that freshman homeroom so many years ago.