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Joaquín G. Avila

José Ángel Gutiérrez

Antonia Hernández

Vilma Socorro Martínez

Great Lives from History: Latinos

Norma V. Cantú

by Cynthia J. W. Svoboda

American lawyer, educator, and activist

As an attorney for the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund (MALDEF) and the U.S. Department of Education, Cantú worked to ensure equal educational opportunities for Latino students.

Areas of achievement: Law; education; activism

Early Life

Norma V. Cantú (kahn-TEW) was the oldest of six children raised in a bilingual Mexican American family in Brownsville, Texas. Cantú’s mother was a homemaker who went back to school and became a public school teacher and then an assistant principal. Her father Federico drove a milk truck and then became a postal carrier. Cantú’s grandfather, who had little formal education, instilled in her the importance of acquiring an education, and Cantú was an excellent student. In 1971, after attending high school for just three years, she graduated with honors from Brownsville High School. Cantú majored in English and education at Pan American University (now the University of Texas-Pan American), from which she received a B.A. degree, summa cum laude, in December, 1973. The following year she taught English in Brownsville. In 1977, at the age of twenty-two, Cantú became the second Hispanic woman to graduate from Harvard University when she earned her degree from the Harvard Law School. She began her legal career in the office of the Texas attorney general, where she worked on the nursing home task force from 1977 through 1978. She then taught English in San Antonio, Texas, in 1979.

Norma V. Cantú.

324_Cantu_Norma_V.jpg

(AP Photo)

Life’s Work

Also in 1979, Cantú took a job as a trial and appellate lawyer for the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund (MALDEF). Four years later, she became the national director for MALDEF’s Education Litigation and Advocacy Project, and she was the organization’s regional counsel and education director from 1985 to 1993. At MALDEF, Cantú was the lead council for many education-centered lawsuits, including litigation supporting equal educational funding for Latino students, mandatory school busing, and equal educational opportunities for disabled students, minorities, and English-language learners. An aggressive litigator, Cantú took legal action against the state of Texas for alleged discrimination in its public school funding formula and in higher education. As an advocate for policies supporting affirmative action, Cantú was challenged by those who did not share her belief in the need for these policies.

On March 5, 1993, President Bill Clinton nominated Cantú to be the U.S. Department of Education’s assistant secretary for civil rights. After being sworn in on May 24, 1993, Cantú worked to run an efficient administration. Her goals included streamlining the department, supporting bilingual education, promoting race-based scholarships, improving equal educational opportunities, and promoting greater opportunities for female athletes. She created and enforced federal policies and guidelines and advised the secretary of education on civil rights issues. She had the right to withhold funding from educational institutions that violated federal civil rights statues. She also investigated and resolved more complaints than previous administrations had handled and hired more bilingual staff.

From 1998 to 2001, Cantú was a representative of the U.S. State Department for the International Commission on the Child. After she retired from government work, she was a visiting professor of law and education at the University of Texas, where she taught graduate writing seminars in education and courses about politics and policies in education, school reform, and disability law. She was a frequent guest lecturer at other universities, a speaker at several national conferences, and a member of the editorial board of the Texas Hispanic Journal on Law and Policy, published by the University of Texas’s law school.

As she progressed in her profession, Cantú maintained her connections with the Hispanic community, often taking a proactive stance and lecturing on social equality, particularly equal opportunity in education, health issues, and the value of affirmative action. In 2002, she cofounded the Mexican American Legislative Leadership Foundation, which provided opportunities for students to work with the Texas legislature.

Cantú is the author of “Emerging Legal Issues: A Proposed Agenda for Advocacy for Hispanics,” one of the essays in Latino Empowerment: Progress, Problems, and Prospects (1988). Her awards include the University of Texas-Pan American Distinguished Alumnus Award (1996), the National Association of Collegiate Women Athletic Administration Honor Award (1996), and the 2004 Spirit of Excellence Award from the American Bar Association’s Commission on Racial and Ethnic Diversity in the Profession.

Significance

As an aggressive litigator, civil rights advocate, and educator, Cantú has demonstrated a hard drive and a keen interest in providing opportunity to the disadvantaged. The first Latina assistant secretary for the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights did not forget her heritage. Her efforts created more student scholarships and experiential opportunities, provided better prospects for female athletes, reduced harassment of minority students, and fostered equality in education. She shared her experiences and knowledge in her publications and in her university classes.

Further Reading

1 

Glaze, Melissa. “Latino Focus: Norma Cantú; In Recognition of Norma Cantú.” Texas Hispanic Journal of Law and Policy 9, no. 1 (Fall, 2003): 2-5. An overview of Cantú’s background, her work with MALDEF and the Office of Civil Rights, and her teaching career.

2 

Healy, Patrick. “A Lightning Rod on Civil Rights.” Chronicle of Higher Education 46, no. 4 (September 17, 1999): A42-A44. Scrutinizes Cantú’s strategies and the controversial issues involving her political and legal career.

3 

Hoff, David J. “In the Line of Fire.” Education Week 17, no. 15 (December 3, 1997): 30-36. Provides an overview of the impact of affirmative action on Cantú’s education, her major career accomplishments, and her position in the Office of Civil Rights. Includes comments from her critics.

4 

Pell, Terence J. “A More Subtle Activism at the Office of Civil Rights. Academic Questions 10, no. 3 (Summer1997): 82-89. Covers Cantú’s appointment with the Office of Civil Rights, the office’s function, and her work for the office.

Citation Types

Type
Format
MLA 9th
Svoboda, Cynthia J. W. "Norma V. Cantú." Great Lives from History: Latinos, edited by Carmen Tafolla & Martha P. Cotera, Salem Press, 2012. Salem Online, online.salempress.com/articleDetails.do?articleName=GLL_10013240011891001.
APA 7th
Svoboda, C. J. (2012). Norma V. Cantú. In C. Tafolla & M. P. Cotera (Eds.), Great Lives from History: Latinos. Salem Press. online.salempress.com.
CMOS 17th
Svoboda, Cynthia J. W. "Norma V. Cantú." Edited by Carmen Tafolla & Martha P. Cotera. Great Lives from History: Latinos. Hackensack: Salem Press, 2012. Accessed October 22, 2025. online.salempress.com.