After years of battling to get a diversity requirement implemented at UCLA, advocates finally saw a glimmer of support from a prominent Academic Senate committee.
Last week, the Undergraduate Council – one of 22 Senate committees – pledged to revisit the question of how to implement the proposal next year.
Currently, every University of California campus except UCLA has some type of diversity requirement.
“I believe this is the first time that the Undergraduate Council has officially supported the development of the diversity requirement,” said Council Chairman Raymond Knapp.
The exact details of the plan are still undetermined, which makes defining the requirement difficult, even though the fight to bring such a requirement to UCLA has been going on for longer than 15 years.
Diversity requirements at other universities involve students taking classes about the culture of underrepresented groups in an effort to better educate the student body about diversity.
The Undergraduate Council passed a motion supporting the idea of having a requirement, but wants to revisit the issue of implementation next year and determine the requirement’s exact structure.
The Faculty Executive and General Education committees have also expressed support for a proposed requirement, but no formal approval has been made. Thus no changes to the current curriculum have been made.
“This sort of thing takes a lot of discussion if they’re going to have a majority supporting it,” said Undergraduate Council member Ted Gamelin regarding discussion of the proposed requirement.
Knapp said the issue will likely be put to a faculty vote to be held some time during the 2003-2004 academic year, with the result determining the requirement’s fate.
Though he believes there is strong support for the proposal, Knapp said faculty support hinges on the final wording of what it actually entails.
Some proponents of the requirement argue that it would not be a burden to students, as it could fit into the existing general education framework as a component of the Society and Cultures GE division.
Sophia Kozak, Academic Affairs commissioner of the Undergraduate Students Association Council, has lobbied for adopting the requirement during her time at UCLA, and said this support from the committee “opens the door for legislation in the next few years.”
Kozak said students expect that the committee’s support will manifest itself with the formation of a subcommittee of the Undergraduate Council designed to promote the requirement.
She emphasized that while this is a positive first step, there is much more to be done.
“Next year, students are committed to ensuring that what comes from the proposal is reflective of how students conceptualize the diversity requirement,” Kozak said.