In the first major shift to general education across its system in decades, the 430,000 college students attending Cal State universities must take a course in ethnic studies or social justice, a requirement approved by CSU trustees on Wednesday after a fierce two-day debate that left long-standing social activists in the awkward position of voting “no”.
The requirement will take effect from the academic year 2023-24 in the country’s largest four-year public university system. Five trustees voted against, including Supt. from Public Instruction Tony Thurmond and social justice activists Lateefah Simon and Hugo Morales, who said it did not sufficiently meet the definition of ethnic studies. An administrator abstained.
Two questions dominated his debate: What should an ethnic studies requirement include? And who should decide: faculty, trustees, or state legislators?
“I am trying to faithfully maintain what ethnic studies are and have been and what those who framed it and have been fighting for 52 years have asked for,” Thurmond said at the Wednesday meeting, referring to the discipline’s focus on experience. . of four oppressed groups in the United States: African Americans, Asian Americans, Latinos, and Indigenous Peoples.
Morales asked to change the name of the proposal simply as a requirement of “social justice.” “It is about social justice, which we have defended,” he said.
But Chancellor Timothy P. White said disciplines are evolving, and the requirement his office was advancing offers students more options.
“Ethnic studies have matured,” he said. “It is deep, it is powerful, but it is more than it used to be.”
The new requirement creates a three-unit, lower division course requirement “to understand ethnic studies and social justice.” The requirement could be met through a traditional ethnic studies course or a class focused on social justice or social movements.
Many opposed White’s plan, including educators and activists, and prefer a bill sponsored by Assemblywoman Shirley Weber (D-San Diego), which more narrowly defines the requirement, limiting it to ethnic studies courses. AB 1460, which passed both the Assembly and the Senate, will return to the Assembly for approval next week before being sent to Governor Gavin Newsom’s desk. If signed, that requirement will replace the one approved by CSU on Wednesday.
“We have asked him to join the Legislature and support 1460, not to put us in the same position we had in 1967, where we as entities were trustees fighting against the faculty, fighting against students,” Weber, former president of the National Council for Black Studies, said during a public comment on Tuesday.
Questions about the content and mission of ethnic studies courses, which have also been raised in the discussion about whether to require a requirement at the K-12 level, go back half a century, when students and faculty in the San Francisco state went on strike to create the first department of ethnic studies.
“The CSU is truly proud of its heritage as a birthplace of ethnic studies,” said Loren Blanchard, executive vice president for academic and student affairs.
Blanchard said the new requirement “elevates” the study of the four racial and ethnic groups that traditionally comprise ethnic studies to the same level as the natural and life sciences, the arts and the humanities. It also “accommodates the voices and experiences of other oppressed and marginalized groups,” she said.
The requirement, for example, could also be met with classes in Jewish or Muslim studies, LGBTQ studies, or social justice, including courses on social change and social movements in the US, Historical and cultural perspectives on studies of disability and health disparities in urban communities.
“For the system to stand up and say that we are going to make three units ethnic studies and that social justice is important,” Alison Wrynn, associate vice chancellor for academic programs, innovations, and faculty development, said in an interview prior to the meeting. . “Our students see themselves with multiple identities. … Our requirement will give them the opportunity to really see themselves in the curriculum. “
But the trustee Silas Abrego objected.
“Let’s be clear,” he said. “This is not a requirement for ethnic studies. A student could meet this requirement without having to take an ethnic studies course. “
The California College Association. He has formally opposed the chancellor’s proposal and has backed Weber’s bill.
“CFA is very disappointed in today’s decision,” President Charles Toombs, professor of African studies in San Diego state, said in a statement after the vote.
Toombs said the chancellor’s proposal did not reflect adequate consultation with the ethnic studies faculty in particular.
“Since the large numbers of ethnic studies teachers are people of color, the lack of inclusion of their expert voices is a powerful and real example of how systemic racism works at CSU,” he said.
Simon, a civil rights and racial justice advocate, said she had received emails and phone calls from ethnic study leaders across the country who expressed dissatisfaction with the proposal.
“It is not on my conscience at this time to support this,” he said. “That hurts [because] I understand the work done … I understand the search for more than 50 years of ethnic studies. “
The system-wide Cal State Academic Senate is opposed to Weber’s bill, arguing that state lawmakers are inappropriately interfering in higher education curriculum matters, setting a dangerous precedent. Some Cal State officials cited those faculty concerns.
“If we were in a different state, we would be scared by the idea that the Legislature would tell us what we should teach,” said trustee Rebecca Eisen. “This is our responsibility.”
Board President Lillian Kimbell agreed. “If we don’t vote to approve this proposal, essentially what we are doing is giving the Legislature its right to create policies about what we teach,” she said. “This is a protest against that.”
