Editorial: UCLA needs meaningful diversity requirement

Student leaders have spent 17 years trying to convince the
faculty to agree to a plan for an academic diversity requirement,
but UCLA remains the only UC undergraduate campus without one.

On Tuesday, the Undergraduate Students Association Council
walked out of its regularly scheduled meeting to protest the
faculty’s handling of the issue. The councilmembers said the
issue had to be resolved now, putting an end to years of
delays.

Some members of council have said they will camp out in a tent
city for three days along with other students who want the
diversity requirement to be approved.

But these students want more than a quick fix ““ they want
a diversity requirement that reflects a specific curriculum and a
carefully selected list of classes.

UCLA’s academic leadership is currently considering a
one-course diversity requirement that would label as many as 60
percent of existing UCLA College classes as fulfilling the
requirement.

But Academic Affairs Commissioner Sophia Kozak has questioned
whether such a diversity requirement would be meaningful. In an
interview with The Bruin in March, Kozak said there should be a
“rigorous” reevaluation of the 60 percent number, and
an effort to make sure the requirement reflects meaningful
principles.

Some student leaders have said the currently proposed structure
could work for now, but a two-course requirement is the ultimate
goal.

Whether the final plan calls for one course or two, Kozak and
others are right to worry about the broad definitions used by the
faculty in their plans for the requirement. It seems hard to
believe that 60 percent of UCLA College classes really have the
potential to educate students about the social struggles, ethnic
conflicts and issues that have shaped so much of the past and
present.

It seems logical that the diversity requirement should include
specific criteria about the definition of a diversity curriculum.
Those criteria should reflect the true significance of
“diversity,” not just window dressing.

While the tent city is an original approach to raising awareness
of this issue, students should be critical of the motives for its
creation. USAC elections begin next week, and it is possible
candidates will use the tent city event to bolster their campaigns.
The event brings publicity to an important issue; it should not be
overshadowed by USAC campaigning.

Organizers also lit 17 candles to commemorate the 17 years
activists have been working to implement a diversity requirement.
Though a candlelight vigil is on the dramatic side, the importance
of the issue should not be overlooked.

This event has the potential to unite students around an issue
that is important to the academic and cultural growth of the UCLA
campus. The faculty should take student concerns about the efficacy
of the current proposal into account while considering how the
requirement will look. It is time for UCLA to have a diversity
requirement.