En paz descanse profe In Memoriam Guillermo Rojas

En paz descanse, profe. In Memoriam Guillermo Rojas, Ph. D. Professor Emeritus of Chicano Studies at the University of Minnesota passed away on May 19, 2011. Professor Rojas served the Department of Chicano Studies and the University of Minnesota in numerous capacities from 1982 -2006. As Professor of Chicano Studies, Rojas also served as Program Director of MLK, and Chair of Chicano of the department. He was a beloved teacher, mentor, friend advocate who inspired, supported, and taught numerous students over the years. Upon his retirement in 2006, the department established a scholarship in his name for seniors in Chicano Studies to honor their perseverance and commitment, ideals that he embodied. Born in Victoria, Texas, Professor Rojas went to Del Mar Junior College in Corpus Christi. He joined the Air Force and trained as a Czech language specialist and spent three years in Germany. He completed his undergraduate work at North Texas State University, in Denton, majoring in Spanish and minoring in French and German. He obtained a doctoral degree from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign focusing on Spanish, Spanish American Literature and Brazilian Literature. Professor Rojas believed that Chicanos are the flowers of our Indian and Spanish ancestors. Guillermo sees that in a toxified and polluted surrounding, Chicano Studies offers a way to air out the environment by offering truths about how Mexicans, Mexicas, Chicanas and Chicanos became have always been, part of the American spectrum.