This Friday, the schools in the California State University system will observe a holiday in honor of Cesar Chavez. The 23 CSU campuses have put instruction on hold for this day, and many campuses have organized a “Community Service Day.”

The decision to create the holiday was made by the State of California.

“We?re not a state agency, but we elected to do it anyway. We did it to pay tribute to his [Chavez?s] legacy,” said Ken Swisher, spokesperson for the CSU. “This decision was made at the Trustees? meeting in January.”

Some classes are only held on Fridays, such as Sacramento State philosophy professor Juan Tello?s critical thinking class.

“The holiday was surprising. I wish I had the opportunity to teach my Section 6 class. However, I believe that it is also important to recognize this holiday. My Friday section is a good bunch of students. They shouldn?t have a problem missing the class this week, though I wish I had more future notice about the holiday,” Tello said.

Sac State will be hosting a “Community Service Day” Saturday from 9:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. in honor of the holiday. Throughout the event, volunteers from the Sac State community will be mentoring for K-12 students on various beautification projects such as landscaping, painting playgrounds, restoring nature walks, cleaning ponds and general maintenance. The sites will vary from schools to parks in the Sacramento area.

This event is sponsored by many organizations, including Sac State, Associated Students, Inc., the San Juan Unified School District, the Sacramento Tree Foundation and Multicultural Family Matters.

“Cesar Chavez committed his life to helping the Hispanic community. He did so much for us, and the least we can do is give back,” said Allison Corrao, director of Arts and Letters and also the intern of the Office of Community Collaboration. “This day will become an annual holiday from now on. We are going to have it before March 30 every year.”