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Submission: Racism in UCLA bureaucracy hinders diversity requirement passage

By Jazz Kiang, Live Maluia, and Evelyn Tran

Feb. 18, 2015 12:44 a.m.

Loud voices from too few individuals have challenged the UCLA College’s diversity requirement.

The polling process ended in 2014 after a faculty majority approved the requirement and the Academic Senate Legislative Assembly voted for its implementation. 2015 should have marked the start of course selection. Instead, the opposition has halted the process by imposing an unprecedented expanded vote.

How can 59 faculty derail a democratic process that more than 600 voted on? Why does opposition emerge only in regard to issues of diversity? Why do initiatives led by communities of color become subject to higher standards of scrutiny? Who are the faces behind the opposition, and what unfair powers do they have?

Even among students, separate petitions seek to either delegitimize or support the diversity requirement. But questions about student opinion distract us from improving our campus.

Let us recall that we have already addressed student opinion: In the 2011 student government election, students demonstrated their support for a general education diversity requirement by passing the Communicating Unity Through Education initiative with a 62.9 percent majority and 5,337 ballots in favor.

More than any voice at UCLA, the student voice in support of the diversity requirement has remained powerful.

In February 2014, the Asian Pacific Islander town hall – held in response to the racially charged sexist flyer sent to the Asian American Studies Center – reinvigorated the demand for the diversity requirement, spurring Chancellor Blockto call for its passage by the end of 2014.

After significant progress, we are once again halted by the racism embedded in UCLA’s bureaucracy.

Although the Academic Senate of the University of California system has committed to diversity in its academic mission, UCLA’s Academic Senate has yet to follow suit

David Schaberg, Victoria Sork, Joseph Rudnick, Alessandro Duranti, Judy Olian, Christopher Waterman, Marcelo Suárez-Orozco, Vijay Dhir, Rachel Moran, Franklin D. Gilliam Jr., Teri Schwartz, No-Hee Park, A. Eugene Washington, Linda Sarna, Jody Heymann, Robin Garrell, Cindy Fan, Wayne Smutz, Virginia Steel – as academic deans, some of you have supported the diversity requirement.

Nonetheless, we ask you to maintain that commitment and be accountable to the climate of your respective schools and divisions. If 59 renegade faculty harbor bigoted viewpoints, why are they appointed to teach in the first place? There must be consequences for actions that prevent diversity initiatives from being implemented.

The protected power of these 59 faculty demonstrates the discriminatory values upheld at UCLA. The 2013 Moreno Report highlighted this reality, and resistance to the diversity requirement is a symptom of it all.

 

We call on the entire campus community to ensure the implementation of the diversity requirement in the College.

To faculty allies: We are grateful for your advocacy, and we further acknowledge your efforts to combat discriminatory climates noted in the Moreno Report. Still, we challenge you to continue highlighting UCLA’s diversity issues. Be vocal because students are here to support you.

To non-College: We urge you to respect and support the College’s passage of the requirement, regardless of your position on the proposal. As noted by the Academic Senate Committee on Diversity and Equal Opportunity’s statement and Professor Paul Barber’s open letter signed by more than 350 faculty, the upcoming vote sets a dangerous precedent against jurisdictional integrity. Vote “yes” to protect your unit’s autonomy over its own academic policy.

To senior administration: Remember that you are accountable to the commitments UCLA has made to equity, diversity and inclusion. As we hire a new vice chancellor position created to address these issues, we must align administrative commitment to our academic curricula.

Chancellor Block and Executive Vice Chancellor Scott Waugh, what message do we convey if the diversity requirement fails now? Undoubtedly, it would be a tremendous failure to the chancellor’s charge in February 2014.

To students: we have come so far since introducing the diversity requirement three decades ago. Time and time again, we have proven the unquestionable student support for its implementation. As the irrational vote approaches, we should not need to re-initiate a petition to re-showcase support simply because our opposing counterparts have done so.

Instead, let us focus on challenging individuals of accountability – deans, department chairs and more – to pass the diversity requirement once and for all. We accomplished this campaign during fall quarter, and we can triumph again.

Although the expanded vote is unjust, the diversity requirement must pass. If it fails now, then the entire campus will have failed its institutional mission to diversity and the confidence of students of color.

Jazz Kiang is a third-year Asian American studies student and director of the Asian Pacific Coalition.

Evelyn Tran is a fourth-year microbiology, immunology and molecular genetics student and president of the Vietnamese Student Union.

Live Maluia is a fourth-year sociology student and president of the Pacific Islands Student Association.

Wali Kamal is a third-year applied mathematics student and president of the Muslim Student Association.

Lila Reyes is a fourth-year political science student and the chair of the Campus Retention Committee.

Miriam Rodriguez is a fifth-year Spanish and Chicana/o studies student, the outreach coordinator of the American Indian Student Association and chair of the Student Initiated Outreach Center.

Luis Sanchez is a fourth-year sociology student and internal chair of the Community Programs Office Student Association.

Hayley Iwig is a fourth-year psychology and classical civilization student and president and retention coordinator of the American Indian Student Association.

Russell Castro is a fourth-year history student and vice chairperson of the Campus Retention Committee.

 

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