Gavin Newsom, California, on Monday signed a bill into law requiring students to join the California State University system, the nation’s largest four-year public university system, to complete a course for ethnic studies to graduate.
The Democratic governor signed AB 1460, which was proposed by Assembly member Shirley Weber, D-San Diego, said his office in a statement.
The law “reflects 50 years of student, faculty, and community advocacy for curriculum reflective of and responsive to our diverse state,” Weber tweeted.
In July, the California State University Board of Trustees, which oversees the system of 23 campuses across the state, voted to include a course that treats ethnic studies and social justice as mandatory.
That action by the trustees was currently reported to be broader than the requirement that is now law, because the plan with approval also introduced permitted courses for social justice.
“The university will begin work to implement the requirements of the new legislation,” Mike Uhlenkamp, a spokeswoman for the CSU’s office, said in an email on Monday.
From the academic year 2021-22, the system will provide for ethnic studies and starting with the academic year students 2024-25 will be required to complete one course of three units in ethnic studies as a graduate, the law states.
It defines ethnic studies as a focus on Indians, African Americans, Asian Americans, and Latina and Latino Americans.
When the CSU board of trustees approved its own plan in July, Chancellor Timothy White said it “was grounded in ethnic studies, but it is broader, more inclusive, giving students a choice,” according to The Associated Press.
Supporters of the bill said the plan approved with approval was weaker than the legislation.
The California Faculty Association, which supported the bill, tweeted that Newsom’s signing on Monday was a historic moment.
It says studies have shown that students from all backgrounds benefit from completing a class for ethnic studies.
The system-wide Academic First Chamber for the CSU warned that Legislature’s participation in imposing degree requirements “could ultimately mean that the government’s agenda replaces faculty expertise as the basis for curricular decisions,” according to an analysis of the bill.
The CSU website says it trains 482,000 students each year. The CSU system announced in May that it planned to offer most of its courses for the fall virtually due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The Associated Press contributed.
