Rosie Castro as the recipient of the Hank Lacayo Lifetime Achievement Award, to be presented during the Educational Achievement Luncheon
USHLI is pleased to announce Rosie Castro as the recipient of the Hank Lacayo Lifetime Achievement Award, to be presented during the Educational Achievement Luncheon at USHLI’s 37th National Conference. The award is named in memory of Hank Lacayo, USHLI Co-founder and Political Director of the United Auto Workers and active supporter of the United Farmworkers Union and other progressive organizations. The conference will be held February 14-17, 2019, at the Sheraton Grand Chicago, located at 301 E. North Water Street in Chicago.
A veteran of 50 years in the struggle for more and better educational opportunities and political power for Latinos, Maria del Rosario (Rosie) Castro has lived a high-impact life in San Antonio, TX. She earned a Bachelor’s degree with a Spanish major and English minor at Our Lady of the Lake University in 1971 and a Master’s degree (Environmental Management) Public Administration at the University of Texas San Antonio (UTSA) in 1983.
She is a grandmother of two girls and mother of twin sons (Congressman Joaquin Castro and the former Mayor of San Antonio, Secretary of HUD in the Obama administration and recently announced presidential candidate Julian Castro). Rosie taught at San Antonio College and UTSA and helped develop the Westside Education and Training Center. She helped organize campaigns for local and state candidates and was an administrator, serving as Interim Dean of Students and Director of the Center for Academic Transitions at Palo Alto College. Rosie received an Honorary Doctorate from Our Lady of the Lake University in 2017.
Dr. Juan Andrade, USHLI President said, “We are fortunate to have a true activist, a real pioneer in the movement to empower the Latino community with us to accept this prestigious award. Though we didn’t know each other 50 years ago, we were in the same trenches working together to bring about political change in Texas, a state that considered people like Rosie and me to be militants and radicals for registering Mexican Americans to vote, challenging the political establishment, and starting a political movement that revolutionized the Southwest. Indeed, Rosie was a key player in charting the course of modern-day Latino politics. We are proud of her achievements and honored to award her this special recognition at our 37th national conference.”