Proposed diversity requirement may have more support than in past

A new diversity course requirement is up for a faculty vote starting Friday, and this time, proponents are hoping it has enough teeth to pass.

The requirement would have undergraduate students in the College of Letters and Science take one course at UCLA that takes a deeper look at groups through racial, ethnic or socioeconomic frameworks, among others. The course would have students examine modern or historical processes that cause inequities or promote fairness between groups.

It would apply to all first-year students in the College of Letters and Science starting in 2015 and to all transfer students starting in 2017.

But proponents of diversity requirements at UCLA have been disappointed twice before – once in 2004 and once in 2012 – when similar proposals made it to a College faculty-wide vote. In 1987, faculty and administration also considered a diversity-related requirement proposal, but it never went to a vote.

This time, some faculty said they think the proposal is more fleshed out and has the monetary and institutional support to win the support of their peers. Unlike the one this year, past proposals did not have plans that were as specific for how they would be funded or how new courses would be created.

“I think that the institutional support is definitely different (this time), and we really crafted this proposal around existing research,” said Michael Alfaro, an associate professor of ecology and evolutionary biology who chairs the Diversity Initiative Implementation Committee. “This proposal is strongly grounded in evidence.”

If the diversity requirement passes and is fully funded, the university would pay hundreds of thousands of dollars in upcoming years from the general university budget to cover the costs of course development, faculty retreats, professor and TA trainings, symposiums and lectureships.

Though there are classes – mostly social sciences courses – that could currently satisfy the requirement, members of the requirement implementation committee said courses need to be created or reworked to ensure students have a variety of options to pick from. Students would be able to fill the requirement through a GE course, an elective or an upper division class, so it would not lengthen the time to graduation, according to the proposal.

Funding is not set in stone, but the executive vice chancellor and provost’s office has pledged to support the proposal and make sure academic departments would not have to bear the costs. The chancellor’s discretionary funds would cover the price of lectureships for two years.

The UCLA Office of Academic Planning and Budget, which manages more than $5 billion a year, would determine how to allocate university funds.

Still, the university is hazy on how this funding might affect other programs in the school. This is partially because its budget for next year is not set and officials do not want to speculate about how the requirement would affect other university spending, said UCLA spokesman Ricardo Vazquez.

William Marotti, an associate professor of history, said he thinks UCLA is responsible for teaching students about diversity. He added that he thinks the university’s and the chancellor’s show of dedication to the requirement will help it be successful, though prejudice will not go away overnight.

“We’re part of the state and part of the community, which means that part of what is there is going to show up here, it doesn’t get magically erased,” he said.

Allison Zheng, a third-year neuroscience student, said she thinks the benefits of the requirement will be worth the costs because it will allow students to better express their cultures on campus and educate students more about differences in backgrounds.

“There’s definitely ignorance of other people’s cultures on campus,” she said. “It’s on my own part too – I can’t say I’m the most learned on Chicano or African American studies. It’s not like (students are) trying to be insensitive, they just don’t understand.”

She added that she thinks UCLA needs to demonstrate its commitment to diversity by holding itself to the same standards as the majority of other University of California undergraduate schools, all of which, except UC Merced, have diversity requirements.

But some students said they don’t think a diversity requirement is necessary or that one class will make a difference.

“It’s a gesture, which shows they care, but for a gesture to cost that much money, I don’t think its worth it,” said Amy Tso, a second-year economics student. “I think it looks good, but won’t be effective.”

Tso said she thinks forcing students to take a diversity-related class won’t ensure that they actually learn anything or pay attention to it.

“Students are a fickle bunch,” she said. “Diversity is the sort of thing where you have to get out there and see it. If you read about it, it’s just like a statistic.”

John Riley, a UCLA economics professor, is one of the faculty members who voted against the “Community and Conflict in the Modern World” requirement in 2012.

Initially, he said he wasn’t happy that faculty brought up another requirement soon after the other failed, but now he’s torn on his vote. This time, he said he thinks the requirement is better thought out, but he still doubts if one 10-week class is going to make a marginal difference if the requirement isn’t implemented effectively.

Still, he said he will force himself to vote next week.

“I think, ‘Has enough changed to make me change my mind?'” he said. “It’s not easy to change, but I’m considering.”