Movimiento Estudiantil Chicano de Aztlan (M.E.Ch.A.) at California State University Northridge is one of the largest and oldest Chicano student organizations in the country. It's origins parallel those of the chicano movement. California State University at Northridge (CSUN) M.E.Ch.A. actually began in the mid-sixties when a handful of Chicano students at then San Fernando Valley State College (SFVSC) formed the United Mexican American Students (U.M.A.S.)

UMAS was one of the first national Chicano student organizations with chapters all over the southwest. Students at San Fernando Valley State College were involved in a number of issues. The organization formed to promote higher education among Chicanos and address the problems that students confronted on campus. Of special concern were the local communities of San Fernando, Pacoima, West and East Los Angeles, and the Ventura-Oxnard area. UMAS was also involved in greater concerns such as the plight of farm workers and the effects of the Vietnam War on the Chicano community.

The students of SFVSC UMAS were also active in the early statewide organizing efforts of Chicano student organizations to form a national student association. In addition to working with other UMAS chapters, SFVSC met with groups like the Mexican American Political Association (MAPA) and Mexican American Student Association (MASA) in the series of conferences which culminated in the landmark conference at the University of California at Santa Barbara where MEChA and El Plan de Santa Barbara were given to fruition. It was at this conference that SFVSC UMAS officially became part of El Movimiento Estudiantil Chicano de Aztlan.