The Philosophy of MEChA contains many valuable insights into the mindset of the founders and the MEChistas, past and present, who abide by its precepts.  Philosophy explains that “Chicanismo involves a personal decision to reject assimilation and work towards the preservation of our cultural heritage.”  This rejection of assimilation, among the supposed “descendants of El Quinto Sol” extends to any Hispanic who simply wants to be an individual.  They are derided as “corporate Hispanics.”  True MEChistas, by contrast, are to undertake a struggle for the “liberation of Aztlan.”  The means by which this goal would be pursued are various, but by Philosophy’s specific reference to both El Plan Espiritual and EPSB, one can safely assume that the means would include cooptation of the university for “community purposes” – the very goals young Tony Villar pursued in 1974.

    Also notable is the stark statement deep within the pages of Philosophy that, while there is a general lack of uniformity from club to club, general standards do include the requirement that:

-         “General membership shall consist of any student who accepts, believes, and works for the goals and objectives of M.E.Ch.A. including the liberation of Aztlán”

-         The first requirement for affiliation is that the chapter “Orient all members by discussing and reading historical documents of our movement including El Plan de Santa Barbara, El Plan de Aztlán and the Philosophy of M.E.Ch.A.”

    As noted in the introduction, these two statements prove that any MEChista alumni who refuses to renounce his or her past associations by claiming ignorance or non-involvement with radical elements within MEChA are quite simply lying: they are radicals by definition.