Don Villarejo, Ph.D.
Don Villarejo became active in civic affairs in 1955, participating in the student, civil rights and peace movements. In 1960, he was a founding member of the editorial board of New University Thought, one of the first publications of the New Left. In 1967-68, he participated in the preparation of protests at the 1968 National Democratic Party Convention in Chicago.
After moving to Los Angeles, he began an involvement in the city’s peace movement, including founding the Indochina Work Group (dedicated to ending U.S. military intervention in Vietnam). He joined the National Standing Committee of the Indochina Peace Campaign in 1973, serving until the conclusion of U.S. involvement in 1975.
He volunteered with the farmworkers movement in 1976 and, afterword, co-founded the California Agrarian Action Project (CAAP) and the California Institute for Rural Studies (CIRS) in 1977. CAAP was best known as the lead plaintiff in civil litigation suing the University of California, its Cooperative Extension Service, some officials, and its Board of Regents, with conflicts of interest and failure to comply with Federal laws requiring land grant universities to serve farmworkers, small-scale family farmers, organic farmers and the rural poor. After prevailing in Alameda Superior Court and the state Appeals Court, ten years later, the case was dismissed by the California Supreme Court.
Dr. Villarejo served as Executive Director of CIRS from its founding until his retirement in 1999. The organization celebrated its 40th Anniversary on March 21, 2017, at an event held in the Merced Multicultural Arts Center.
Dr. Villarejo’s best known research contribution with CIRS was the California Agricultural Worker Health Survey (CAWHS), a statewide, population-based survey of farmworker health that included a comprehensive physical examination. Publication of the finding resulted in a new $50 million initiative by The California Endowment to support expanded health services for farm laborers in the state.
Here you can find many of his collected works completed for CIRS. You can find out more about Don and see more of his work on his website.