GSA diversity committee to address UCLA’s racial climate

Graduate student government leaders formed a diversity committee last week to gather graduate student opinions about racial discrimination at UCLA, in the hopes of drafting a resolution to address the school’s racial climate.

Graduate Students Association President Nicole Robinson said GSA formed the committee in response to a report that found that UCLA’s policies for addressing racial discrimination and bias among faculty are inadequate. Former California Supreme Court Justice Carlos Moreno headed the report, which was released in fall.

“If you look at the makeup of the student body, it would be disingenuous to say that everything is OK and that there’s no issue to be discussed,” Robinson said.

The graduate student diversity committee plans to meet Feb. 3 to discuss resolution suggestions and aims to bring a resolution proposal to the next GSA forum on Feb. 12.

GSA Vice President of Academic Affairs Cody Trojan proposed the discussion and now heads the diversity committee, which consists of representatives from each of the 13 graduate departments that have a GSA delegate.

Trojan said his committee will be ready to draft a resolution if they find that graduate students feel strongly about GSA taking action against racial discrimination at UCLA.

Several graduate students staged a sit-in in a Moore Hall classroom following the release of the Moreno report. The student demonstrators shared their experiences with racial discrimination at UCLA and described the graduate school as an unsafe climate for students of color.

In response to the report, Chancellor Gene Block appointed a campus discrimination officer and created the position of vice chancellor for equity, diversity and inclusion.

The Academic Senate bylaws have also been amended to allow the involvement of administrators in the early stages of discrimination investigations and reviews.

Trojan said he hopes any resolution brought to the GSA forum is a statement that would affect the entire campus, not just graduate students.

Discussions about the resolution’s content are at their early stages, Trojan said. A possible resolution could call for a reform of diversity programs to create a more welcoming atmosphere to students of all races and ethnicities, he said.

Edwin Everhart, the president of the GSA Social Sciences Council and member of the diversity committee, said he thinks GSA should continue to discuss racial discrimination because it is a recurring topic of discussion in other campus governing bodies, such as the Undergraduate Students Association Council.

In addition to the resolution, Everhart added GSA may consider other forms of action to address the issue, including investigating discrimination claims at UCLA.

Emily Lucitt, a graduate student in anthropology, said she thinks racial discrimination is an issue that deserves discussion and action from the different governing bodies on campus. Lucitt also works with the graduate division’s Office of Diversity, Inclusion and Admissions.

Since the issue is not confined just to graduate or undergraduate students, Lucitt said she hopes that GSA’s action can reach past graduate students and impact more people on campus.

Lucitt added that any GSA action should be separate from the work of other campus groups, so it can effectively complement the work already being done by the administration to address racial discrimination.

The committee meeting will be held Feb. 3 at 1 p.m. in Kerckhoff 316. Trojan said all graduate students are welcome to attend.

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