Student advocacy groups bring awareness to campus

Yip, a fourth-year communication studies student, is chair of
the Asian Pacific Coalition.

By Cheryl Yip

Regardless of age, religion, ethnicity, major, upbringing,
gender or career intentions, the lowest common denominator in
defining education is the thirst for knowledge ““ knowledge of
theory, of ideas and of the institutions and structures that
constitute our society.

Regardless of where we intend to go after college or of our
intentions behind getting an education, we continue going to our
classes because we are led to believe at a young age that education
is the means to growth, to broadening our minds both as individuals
and as members of society.

But what if one day we find ourselves confused by the glaring
contradictions between this education and our own experiences? Is
our UCLA education really preparing us to be socially conscious and
responsible contributors to society?

It is possible to achieve a UCLA degree without having to
challenge societal problems such as racism, homophobia, classism,
hate crimes, gender inequality and ethnocentrism.

We live in an era where education refuses to acknowledge the
true state of our society. Instead it actively tries to convince us
that we are all free from these diseases.

From the rash of hate crimes on campus to the inhumane
conditions in sweatshops all over the world, we all know firsthand
that our society is plagued with injustice.

While our education doesn’t address these realities,
student advocacy groups and organizations speak to these
experiences by breaking the silence.

These afflictions manifest themselves through policies and
processes that effectively shut out entire populations and
communities from institutions of higher education. Even our general
education requirements exclude the study of entire sectors of our
societies, sending a clear message that an understanding of certain
communities is of little or no importance.

Aside from creating spaces to address our experiences, student
groups effectively use this space to establish themselves and
initiate a variety of projects.

  Illustration by JASON CHEN/Daily Bruin Senior Staff Here,
the blanket of invisibility is removed and our experiences are
validated. Student-produced cultural nights are one way that we use
our experiences to vocalize and accurately portray our
communities’ histories, as well as educate the larger UCLA
community.

Themes of cultural nights are based on extensive historical
research and provide perspectives left out of textbooks. They
confront and critically challenge problems such as racism and
homophobia. These year-long productions are educational experiences
for all the performers, organizers, as well as hundreds of other
people. These programs are one way for us to shed the nine-digit
student identity and assume our identity as a product of our
communities. At a university that lacks a diverse curriculum, it is
necessary for these efforts to continue.

Organizational work recognizes the links between our isolated
campus and the larger mechanisms that delivered us into our
classrooms here, namely our families and our communities.

As such, our student organizations remind us of our purpose here
““ first and foremost, to expand opportunities for all people.
These opportunities include learning about all histories through
interactions with members from all communities. In striving to
understand firsthand our communities and our society, we must
promote cooperative interaction with each other.

Thus, our organizations ultimately exist as spaces where
students can engage in the struggle for social justice together,
while serving and advocating for specific communities to which we
belong. Using the tools of social consciousness, responsibility and
action, we can redefine education to value our experiences.

Programs and projects are directed by a collective vision
““ established, regulated, implemented and run by students.
Each and every one of them stands testament to our capacity to
create structures for our own growth and education.

If our education is truly meant to nourish our growth as
individuals and as members of society, we must be able to provide
input into the content of it. Education should incorporate the
multidimensional focus on all people ““ as learners, teachers,
sisters, brothers, community members, leaders and students. Being
involved in student-initiated programs, projects and organizations
allow us create our vision of what an education should be.

One day our education will value all students’ experiences
and perspectives so that we can learn to listen to diverse
experiences. That day, we will find our own voices through
increased awareness of each other.