Correction appended
Camping out on the university lawn for three days proved
worthwhile for students calling for the implementation of a
diversity requirement when the executive board of the Academic
Senate made a commitment to implement a requirement by fall 2005
during a rally Thursday.
Clifford Brunk, chairman of the Academic Senate, and vice
chairwoman Kathleen Komar addressed the crowd of more than 50
students, alumni and activists, assuring them that faculty would
immediately begin the process of approving a diversity requirement.
They said the process is expected to be completed by fall 2005.
“We see no reason that it can’t be implemented in
that time frame,” Brunk said, attributing the delay to
logistics.
“The faculty are very slow, the devil’s in the
details,” he said. “It is somewhere between awkward and
embarrassing, so we are going to fix it.”
The executive members of the Academic Senate made their
addresses during a rally held in Schoenberg Quad ““ or what
had been converted to a tent city. Since Tuesday night, students
had camped in the tents, held speak-outs and teach-ins in hopes of
voicing their concerns to the faculty and administration.
The rally was held to coincide with the Academic Senate’s
executive board meeting in Murphy Hall. After students from the
rally crossed the street and presented their concerns to the
faculty, the board assured them of their commitment and followed
the students out to address the crowd.
UCLA is the only undergraduate University of California campus
not to have a diversity requirement in place. The proposed
requirement would mandate students to enroll in a general education
course addressing a diversity-related issue.
A General Education governance committee will be charged with
compiling a course list. The committee will consist of both
students and faculty.
Student organizers believe this commitment is a victory for the
people who have been working to implement a requirement for the
last 17 years.
“I definitely think it’s unfortunate that more
students weren’t a part of the process, however it does show
the efforts of students that are passionate about diversity in the
curriculum,” said Anica McKesey, president of the
Undergraduate Students Association Council.
But USAC Academic Affairs Commissioner Sophia Kozak said there
is still more work to be done.
“I have dedicated a lot of my time at UCLA to the
diversity requirement campaign. I recognize that it is just one
small step in the struggle for education.”
Eligio Martinez, chief of staff of the Academic Affairs
Commission, said the currently proposed requirement is too vague
and that the commission will push for a two-course requirement that
emphasizes diversity more than the current one.
Other speakers featured at the rally included a participant from
the 1993 hunger strike who called for Chicana/o studies to be
included in the UCLA curriculum. Min Zhou, chairwoman of the Asian
American studies program, and Bryant Tan, a former Academic Affairs
commissioner, also spoke at the event.
Correction: May 19, 2004,
Wednesday
In “Board commits to diversity req” (News, May 7),
the article should have said the Academic Senate’s Council of
Faculty, which consists of the chairs of the faculty executive
committees of each school, committed to the implementation of a
diversity requirement. The article also should have clarified that
the process has been on-going.