By Luis Torres, Ph.D.
Posted on September 11, 2025
One of Colorado’s most significant civil rights organizations, a foundational Chicana/o education champion, CHE (Congress of Hispanic Educators) will celebrate the archiving of its history in the
Denver Public Library, on Sunday, September 21, 11:00–1:00. The event is free and open to the public. El Semanario/The Weekly Issue is a sponsor, and we encourage attendance and participation by those wanting to learn more about public school achievement for all students. Please join us at the Denver Public Library, 10 W. Fourteenth Ave. Pkwy. 80204, Peak View Room on the First floor, to hear presentations by foremost educators and civil rights champions.
CHE’s accomplishments date from its inception in 1968 concerning Denver Public Schools, arguing especially for Bilingual Education, expanding to encompass additional significant academic issues for Chicana/o and other marginalized students. According to Dr. Darlene LeDoux, a longtime leader in CHE and other educational issues, the Congress was founded in 1968 by Dr. Bernie Valdez, Dr. Fernie Baca, and several other foremost Latina/o educators and community leaders. It remains committed, dynamic, and vibrant today.
This celebration is more than a showcase of archives—it is a tribute to the teachers, educators, students, and families who formed the grassroots of the Civil Rights era.”
Dr. Darlene LeDoux, Congress of Hispanic Educators
While CHE has faced several challenges, it has also enjoyed numerous accomplishments. According to the agenda, attendees at the September 21 event will learn about many of these matters. For example, language rights for Spanish speaking students has been a continuing issue, with numerous achievements, expanding to such rights for Multilingual Learners and the establishment of Dual Language schools and development of the Seal of Biliteracy in DPS, the latter a certification for students of their bilingual ability, important for their college admissions and future careers. In the first few decades after the 1960s, CHE fought for the hiring of more Chicana/o teachers, administrators, and counselors. These and other accomplishments for students were challenging to achieve, but have proved extremely valuable to their education.
This CHE Celebration unveils access to the community via the Denver Public Library’s (DPL) “Special Collections and Archives Department,” where the most significant documents and other records from Denver’s history are kept for public viewing, studying, and research. Several such CHE archival documents will be available for attendees to view at the Celebration. As the DPL “Special Collections…” website states, “The Congress of Hispanic Educators (CHE) Records cover the organization’s activities from 1963 to 2023. The collection is organized into three parts: Series 1 Officers/Board Members, Series 2 Court Cases, and Series 3 Research Materials. Each series is arranged chronologically.” DPL has digitized the documents, which will be available in electronic format to the public.
This reporter, as a CHE member, assisted an ad hoc CHE committee with the lengthy, time consuming, but eminently rewarding mission of reviewing the numerous documents in preparation for committing them to the DPL. It was a fascinating and illuminating process to see documentation about the development and improvement of the Denver community, Latina/o and more. As the DPL site further states, “Materials in the collection include governing documents, correspondence, conference and event information, legal documents, newspapers, proclamations, reports, and clippings.” Celebration attendees on September 21 will have a rare glimpse of selections from the literally thousands of pages CHE has provided to our future. As Dr. Darlene LeDoux has said, “This celebration is more than a showcase of archives—it is a tribute to the teachers, educators, students, and families who formed the grassroots of the Civil Rights era. We celebrate their courage, their resilience, and the long journey that turned challenges into triumphs, reminding us that success, though hard-won, always comes to pass.”
Erlinda Archuleta, known as a “Legend of CHE” and one of the foremost Chicana/o educators in the history of the district, is scheduled to speak at the event. She recounted to this reporter how solitary and isolating it was for the few Chicanas/os in DPS, including her, in the 1960s and 1970s, before their numbers and positive impact on students began to multiply. She has also recounted the dismaying struggles Chicanas specifically had to face, and how nevertheless these women largely led the development of CHE and the expansion of its impact. Several of these pioneers are expected to attend and participate at the CHE Archiving Celebration. Many of them had the good fortune to work, for example, with the late Dr. Martha Urioste, known as a trailblazer and the “Madrina de Montessori,” along with other dearly departed educators who helped lead the way for such changes during their longtime careers in DPS.
Additional leaders, all of whom contributed to CHE and its efforts, expected to attend and present, are the Honorable Fran Coleman, President of CHE; Dr. Kathy Escamilla, Professor and CHE leader; DPS Superintendent Dr. Alex Marrero; the Honorable Federico Peña, former Denver Mayor, U.S. Secretary of Transportation, and U.S. Secretary of Energy; and the Honorable Ken Salazar, former Colorado Attorney General, U.S. Senator, U.S. Secretary of the Interior, and Ambassador to Mexico.
One of the major accomplishments in CHE’s history is the lengthy, nearly interminable legal struggles with Denver Public Schools over equal access to education for our students. For example, CHE was a Plaintiff Intervener, with the following legal identifiers, in the landmark case, Wilfred C. Keyes v. School District No. 1, Denver, Colorado (Civil Action No. C-1499) and Congress of Hispanic Educators v. School District No. 1, Denver, Colorado (Civil Action No. 95 M 2313). CHE fought for the desegregation plan emanating from the Keyes case; as Erlinda Archuleta stated, while desegregation was significant, equal access to facilities and resources was a central issue, as were funding for upkeep of the schools, purchasing of the latest in textbooks and educational materials, recruiting experienced and eminently prepared teachers, and ability for students to overcome language barriers. As Dr. Darlene LeDoux has stated, through a series of legal actions, the Court engaged in a two-week trial in 1982, finding in 1983 that “children with limited English language proficiency had been denied equal access to educational opportunities,” leading to a multi-tiered Court Order. As might be explained further in the CHE Celebration, CHE has engaged since then in a Consent Decree arising from the Court Order between CHE, DPS, and the Courts. This Consent Decree is still operational today in 2025, deriving from the efforts of the last 57 years, to which our students are beneficiaries and heirs.
Luis Torres, PhD, retired, served as Deputy Provost for Metropolitan State University of Denver for Academic and Student Affairs and professor of Chicana/o Studies. Torres is a noted advocate for equity in education, policy and community efforts. Torres is also a member of The Weekly Issue/El Semanario Advisory Board. He is also a member of the CHE Senior Advisory.
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