UCLA College faculty reject “˜Community and Conflict in the Modern World’ GE requirement
Faculty vote results in 2012 and 2004
224 "“ 175
Vote tally in 2012
29.6
Percentage of eligible faculty who voted in 2012
141 "“ 108
Vote tally in 2004
19.7
Percentage of eligible faculty who voted in 2004
SOURCE: College of Letters and Science Faculty Executive Committee website and Daily Bruin archives
By Jillian Beck
June 4, 2012 2:41 a.m.
The UCLA College faculty has once again voted down a diversity-related general education requirement.
The College of Letters and Science faculty rejected the proposed change by a 224-175 vote. The results were announced Friday during a meeting of the College Faculty Executive Committee, a governing body of the College faculty.
The “Community and Conflict in the Modern World” requirement would have required students to take a GE course dealing with conflicts and collaboration that can emerge through differences in communities. It had been in the works since 2010.
Voter turnout for the ballot measure was historically higher than in the past, said Kyle McJunkin, director of curriculum coordination, who works with the College Faculty Executive Committee.
The College faculty voted down a similar diversity-related requirement in 2004.
About 30 percent of eligible faculty voted this year, compared to 19.7 percent in 2004.
Faculty opposition centered around how the proposed requirement would be implemented, given UCLA’s current budget situation, said Cameron Campbell, professor of sociology and chair of the subcommittee of the Faculty Executive Committee focused on the requirement.
Campbell added he was disappointed the proposal didn’t pass, especially because students had shown support for it.
Students voted in support of adding a diversity-related GE requirement in the undergraduate student government elections last year.
Some students had also been lobbying professors to vote in favor of the GE change since late April, in preparation for the faculty vote.
“I think that there have been some misunderstandings about the proposal and unwarranted concerns (from faculty) that it would impose an additional burden on students,” Campbell said.
Tlaloc Vasquez, a second-year international development studies and Chicana/o studies student and one of the student representatives on the Faculty Executive Committee, said he could feel the disappointment in the room when the vote results were announced.
“I really felt that there was good chance in getting something like this passed,” Vasquez said. “It was difficult to accept the rejection of the proposal.”
Hana Khan, a third-year geography and environmental studies student, was a member of the workgroup that drafted the requirement last winter and a leader in the efforts to mobilize students to lobby professors to vote for the requirement.
Khan said she was bombarded with calls and text messages immediately after the Faculty Executive Committee announced the results.
“I was definitely disappointed, but I didn’t feel hopeless,” Khan said. “I was kind of preparing myself for this.”
The Faculty Executive Committee does not currently plan to redraft and propose a similar requirement, said Michael Meranze, chair of the College Faculty Executive Committee and a professor of history.
“The faculty has decided that this version (of the diversty-related requirement) was not something they thought should be implemented,” Meranze said. “The (committee) has to honor that decision.”
Khan said she and the other students who supported the requirement plan to work with administrators to implement alternative programs such as diversity training for faculty members or an additional component in the New Student and Transition Programs.
“We do feel like it is still an issue that needs to be brought up and talked about, especially with UCLA’s campus climate,” Vasquez said. “It’s not something that is going to go away anytime soon.”
