Students danced, pixie performers twirled fire batons and Dolores Huerta spoke of organizing for a greater good at the 30th anniversary gala of the Cesar Chavez Student Center Friday night.

“This is a very special place,” Huerta said. “San Francisco State has such a great history of activism.”

Huerta, a great believer of activism herself, began the National Farm Workers Association with Cesar Chavez and is currently working on the Dolores Huerta Foundation, a organization training people to organize their community.

The gala was the closing event of a month-long celebration that included a film festival of student's work and a series on the 1968 student strikes. The center's staff had been putting together the events for more than six months.

“The center is the heart of the campus,” said Aimee Barnes, program coordinator for the student center. “We really wanted to celebrate the history of the building in an unusual and memorable way.”

Barnes added that they (the student center staff) also just wanted to say thank you to the students who support the student center. They did that Friday night by offering free food, two bands and an array of performers wowing the crowd.

The student center, a separate entity from the university, is supported by the $62 student center fee and revenue from vendors. The center offers a wide variety of services, from housing SF State's student government, bookstore, and lounge areas to offering food service; they even offer DVD rentals.

The 30th anniversary celebration was intended to bring out students to a campus known for being a commuter school. Trays of chicken wings, cheese and crackers and cookies lured them in and the entertainment made them stay on a chilly night when the campus would usually be deserted. According to Katherine Day, project coordinator for the student center, the event was aimed at outreaching to the new community that is now developing on campus.

Anthony Morin, 18, is a dorm resident a stopped by the celebration on his way to the Olive Garden.
"The noise brought us here," he said, "but I love the diversity, culture and so many different people from different places. There's not a lot of life on campus on the weekends."

Organizers had hoped for a turnout of about 400 people, however estimates of the crowd were placed at only about 100.

Most SF State students, like senior Andrew Morris, 23, have only used the center to buy food while on campus.

“I was actually here doing some homework and I heard the drums from the library so I walked over here,” said Morris nodding his head to the music of the Gee Yung Lion Dancers. Morris added that the celebration was the first time he had attended any extracurricular event on campus.

Not only students, but also faculty and staff stayed to enjoy the event. Most of the services offered in the center remained open so that students could come in and ask questions. Tiffany Fisher, assistant director for Project Rebound, brought her daughters Imani, 4, and Aniya, 3, to enjoy the event.

“Oh they love it,” said Fisher, 23, a psychology major, “They don't want to leave.”

“Personally, I hope it rejuvenates us for the future,” said Barnes adding that they wanted to be revolutionary on how they provided programs, “It's work but it's also a service.”