In the University of California system, UCLA ““ one the
most diverse campuses in the system ““ is the only campus that
does not require students to fulfill a diversity requirement to
graduate.
However, if a proposal making its way through the Academic
Senate is approved this year, this may change.
The proposal would require students to complete a class carrying
“diversity credit” prior to graduation.
Since its crafting this past May, the proposal has been approved
by three committees in the Senate and the Chancellor’s
Advisory Group on Diversity. The Senate ““ a body of faculty
members which determines academic policy at UCLA ““ is
expected to vote on the requirement by the end of the current
academic year.
“The proposal reflects the faculty’s sense that
diversity is important on the UCLA campus,” said Robin
Garrell, chairwoman of the faculty executive committee in the
College of Letters & Science.
The issue of a diversity requirement was also debated in the
mid-1990s, but at that time, the Senate decided to integrate
multiculturalism into the courses themselves rather than have an
officially mandated course requirement.
But some student leaders want a stricter requirement.
Sophia Kozak, the academic affairs commissioner in the
Undergraduate Students Association Council, will present an
alternative proposal to a subcommittee of the undergraduate council
in the upcoming week.
“The approach we took was not only to critique the current
proposal, but to offer practical and comprehensive
solutions,” she said.
One of Kozak’s criticisms of the current proposal is that
in a preliminary report, more than half of the courses listed as
either Society & Culture or Arts & Humanities general
education courses were found to carry diversity credit. She said
the faculty have not generated any criteria used to determine
whether courses fit the diversity requirement.
Since students under new GE requirements implemented in the
2003-2004 academic year have to take three Society & Culture
courses and three Arts & Humanities courses, most students
would already be taking a class carrying diversity credit even if
was not mandated.
The proposal’s supporters say it will improve UCLA’s
image by showing that the university cares about diversity.
“It’s important to make (a diversity requirement)
official,” said Raymond Knapp, former chairman of the
undergraduate council in the Senate.
“For UCLA to be the only UC without a diversity
requirement, when diversity already plays such a large part in its
general education coursework, sends the wrong message,” he
said.
However, Kozak said UCLA should do more than acknowledge that
diversity already exists in its classes.
“We don’t think the proposal goes far enough,”
she said.
USAC’s proposal, which Kozak will present, is to have a
two-course diversity requirement. One course would center on
diversity within the United States and one would center on
international diversity.
Regarding Kozak’s comment that the preliminary report used
“no real methodology” to determine which courses carry
diversity credit, Knapp said the committee tried to be open-minded
in determining a course’s eligibility.
“There is such a diverse way of looking at diversity that
we tried not to be narrow,” he said.
Around campus, student’s reaction to a diversity
requirement was mixed.
“I think it’s a good idea,” said Oscar
Alvarez, a fifth-year English student. “A lot of people go
through college without experiencing true diversity. A class that
causes you to look beyond your own experiences is always
good.”
However, Ryan Zroka, a fourth-year history student, said such a
requirement should not be forced upon students.
“I think it’s a little bit silly to force people to
experience diversity. It’s something that you should choose
on your own,” he said.