Sociology major Italo Bucca ’19 of Hartford, Indira Petoskey, assistant dean in the Office of Continuing Studies and Enhanced Learning; and Yanil Terón, executive director of the Center For Latino Progress (CPRF), were honored at Eastern Connecticut State University’s annual Cesar Chavez Distinguished Service Awards Ceremony on April 24. Angy Rivera, co-executive director of the New York State Youth Leadership Council, delivered the keynote address.

Eastern President Elsa Núñez welcomed a packed house in the Paul E. Johnson Community Room in the J. Eugene Smith Library and highlighted Chavez’s role on the long road to freedom and justice. She said Chavez believed in service, non-violent resistance to oppression and a commitment to improving the lives of the disenfranchised in this country. “Today’s award recipients are truly living the values and principles of Cesar Chavez,” said Núñez. “Because of their will and resolve, Italo, Indira and Yunil remind us of our responsibility to serve others, so that everyone may share in the American Dream.”

Bucca won in the student category. He was accepted into Eastern’s STEP/CAP Program after attending the Classical Magnet School in Hartford, where he played soccer and basketball, and where he first demonstrated his passion for helping others. At Eastern, Bucca has worked the Center for Community Engagement, the Windham Middle School after school program and the Big Brother, Big Sister program, as well as in the Study Abroad office. He has participated in several campus clubs and organizations designed to motivate young people and regularly tells students to “Always be yourself. Never follow the crowd. And remember where you came from!”

A native of St. Croix, U. S. Virgin Islands, Petoskey won in the faculty/staff category. For the past 22 years, she has served in a variety of capacities at different institutions, including as an adjunct professor, student development specialist, dean of distance learning, computer lab director, coordinator of the Intercultural Center and vice president of student affairs and institutional research/development. In addition to her duties at Eastern, Petoskey has served as an adjunct faculty member at Hartford-based Capital Community College and at Wilson University in Elk Grove, CA, and as a member of the board of directors for the Urshan Graduate School of Theology and Urshan College in St. Louis, MO.

Since 2007, Terón has served as executive director of the Center for Latino Progress-CPRF, the only Latino workforce development organization in Connecticut. A native of Puerto Rico now living in Windsor, Terón has expanded the center’s workforce programs, comprehensive support services and civic and leadership educational activities. She has also increased the center’s visibility by establishing agency relationships with local, statewide and national organizations. She serves as Northeast Council representative to the National Council of La Raza (NCLR), the regional voice of organizations serving Latinos from Pennsylvania to Maine.

Keynote speaker Rivera said when she joined the Immigrants Rights Movement she learned that immigrant justice is more than just going to college and getting a degree. “I still felt voiceless when we started pushing for the Federal Dream Act. Being voiceless is the worst feeling ever. Organizing allowed me to take back my voice. My hope for all of us is that no matter where we are in our lives, that we work towards justice because every action we take has an impact. My hope is that we keep making space for those who are left out. We are all here because someone made space for us.”