30 years of struggle

Friday, February 26, 1999

HISTORY: UCLA's ethnic studies programs first began in 1969, when the voices of concerned faculty and students were heard

By Mason Stockstill and

Stefanie Wong

Daily Bruin Senior Staff

The year is 1969. Ronald Reagan is the governor of California, and Charles E. Young is the chancellor of UCLA. Colleges and universities across the country, especially public schools, have increasingly become the sites of protests and rallies, both peaceful and violent.

A number of radical movements have sprung up in the past few years. Students for a Democratic Society, Black Panthers, United Slaves - all of these groups are active on the UCLA campus.

Gov. Reagan and Chancellor Young are somewhat at odds over the issue of students protests. The governor has made it a priority to "clean up that mess," referring to protests at UC Berkeley and other campuses; while Chancellor Young has railed against the Los Angeles Police Department's practice of sending undercover, plainclothes police officers into student protests on campus.

It was this environment that 30 years ago gave birth to UCLA's ethnic studies programs that would later grow into four centers with hundreds of students enrolled and dozens of different course offerings.

In the beginning

While UCLA's ethnic studies centers were the first such programs in the nation, they have changed over the past 30 years.

Chancellor Young first established the Institute of American Cultures, which was an umbrella institute that distributed funding for those interested in ethnic studies research.

The institute, established in 1969, only provided money - it did not hire faculty, offer classes or grant degrees.

Faculty interested in African American, Asian American and Chicano studies felt that the institute was insufficient, and proposals were submitted to create respective research centers.

On July 1, 1969, the Center for African American Studies (CAAS), the Asian American Studies Center (AASC) and the Chicano Research Center (CRC) were established. These centers were focused solely on research and did not offer classes, hire faculty or grant degrees. The American Indian Studies Center was created a few years later.

Hurdles facing implementation

Initially, Chancellor Young was in favor of establishing ethnic studies courses. Young had just been appointed UCLA's chancellor in 1968, and though he was relatively new on the job, he was already seasoned in the turbulent student life of the late 1960s.

In stark contrast to most of the nation's other university presidents and chancellors, Young was often willing to chat with protesters and attempt to work out their concerns. Such was the case with ethnic studies centers.

Though he was an active supporter of the establishment of the ethnic studies curricula, Young often disagreed with other backers.

"I'm not certain if a degree is necessary," he said, referring to a separate ethnic studies major, in a 1969 Daily Bruin article. Young said that he felt most students would take courses in ethnic studies as a supplement to their studies in other majors.

Though a separate major in "ethnic studies" was never established, students can enroll in interdepartmental majors that include courses from different departments and centers.

Also at issue was where the offices for the ethnic studies centers would be located. The administration had originally planned for them to be located in Royce Hall, and it had even taken steps to begin construction of new offices within Royce.

Yet, many students felt that Campbell Hall, which was home to the High Potential Program - a forerunner to the Academic Advancement Program (AAP) - would have been a more natural choice for the location for the offices.

The chancellor disagreed, though, calling the proposal "an absolute waste of space."

Young explained that Campbell Hall's ground floor was already devoted to educational programs like the High Potential program, and that many language and linguistic offices would be moved from the overcrowded humanities building, which would later become Rolfe Hall.

"Other programs (are) very much in need of space," Young said.

But the four ethnic studies centers were able to establish office space in Campbell Hall, and two still remain. The Chicano and African American research centers have since moved out of Campbell Hall.

"The move occurred because it became clear that each of the centers was outgrowing the space," said CAAS acting director Richard Yarborough. "There wasn't room to expand if we all remained in Campbell."

When space became available in Haines Hall, CAAS and CRC moved. There was, however, discussion among the faculty, students and staff about the politics of moving, considering the historical significance Campbell Hall had to the research centers.

"Ultimately, it was felt that the future health of the centers depended upon room to grow, so we relocated," Yarborough said.

Opposition to an ethnic studies major

The Academic Senate did, at one time, hear a proposal to offer a major in ethnic studies. A resolution was written by history Professor Jere King.

King's proposal met with harsh opposition from math Professor Ernst Straus at an Academic Senate meeting in 1968.

"(The proposal) appears designed to deflect the incoming minority student into a narrow backwater of ethnic specialization," Straus said.

King insisted, though, that the major would not be intended to be solely for minority students, nor would minority students be coerced into taking those courses.

"I intended these majors as purely optional, available to any student of any origin," King said.

Another professor, Richard Lanham of the English department, raised concerns that there would be pressure to recruit only minority faculty to teach the courses.

"There seems, to me, to be a danger of minority myopia in Professor King's proposal," Lanham said. "Minority group students will not profit from the sudden change in environment."

King responded that his proposal did not include any provisions regarding the hiring of faculty. King said that he had "never intimated or thought of any such staffing of courses."

Allegations also surfaced several times during the process of creating the ethnic studies centers that their creation was largely being used to quell protests from the increasingly militant African American student groups on campus, including the Black Panthers and the Black Student Union, a forerunner of today's African Student Union.

In the minds of many at the time, Chancellor Young had been incredibly accommodating of the demands of minority student groups. Young had reached agreements with both the Black Student Union and the United Mexican American Students about improving admissions for those two underrepresented groups - the first inklings of affirmative action at UCLA.

Many others, however, felt (and still feel) that the chancellor's actions were merely designed as political statements and created little to no significant change. This is evidenced by Chancellor Young's resistance to the creation of the Chavez Center in 1995.

Modern movements

Over time, interdepartmental degrees in the four areas of ethnic studies were offered and housed within their respective research centers.

But in 1995, students became dissatisfied with the interdepartmental Chicano studies degree and protests ensued with hunger strikes and sit-ins. Protesters wanted a full Chicano studies department to be created.

A compromise was made with Chancellor Young, and a new instructional center was created. The Cesar Chavez Center for Chicano/a Studies is more than an interdepartmental program, but not quite a department.

"One of the things that came with the establishment of the instruction center was a commitment by the university to hire full-time new faculty that was supposed to provide the base for reviewing and revising the curriculum," said Renaldo Macias, chair of Chicano/a studies.

Now, the ethnic studies courses have come under fire from UC Regent Ward Connerly, who spearheaded the UC Board of Regents' decision to outlaw the use of ethnicity and gender in university hiring and admissions practices.

"Clustering along racial lines clearly defeats (the objective of achieving diversity)," Connerly stated.

Connerly's comments exemplified how the battle over ethnic studies will still continue, even 30 years after their creation.University Archives

Students rally in 1995 for the creation of the Cesar Chavez Center.

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