In a state with millions of Chicana/os it is amazing UCLA does
not yet have a department devoted to Chicana/o studies. But that is
likely to change ““ years of hard work and activism are
nearing culmination.
The Graduate Council of the Academic Senate voted Monday to
endorse an official Chicana/o department. The vote clears the way
for final approval of departmental status for the existing
César E. Chávez Center for Interdisciplinary Instruction
in Chicana/o Studies.
The vote also stands in stark contrast to years of tough
struggle and administrative intransigence. The Chávez Center
itself was only established after eight students and a faculty
member engaged in a hunger strike for 14 days in 1993. At that
time, then-Chancellor Charles Young refused to create a new
department but did sign off on the creation of the
interdisciplinary center.
Since 1993, Chicana/o studies at UCLA has been slowly inching
toward departmental status.
But more and more students are apparently becoming interested in
Chicana/o studies. In 2002, about 60 students graduated with a
degree in Chicana/o studies, up from about 12 students 10 years
before.
Departmental status would give the center much more prestige,
its own faculty and the ability to award graduate degrees.
Only one university in the nation currently has a graduate-level
degree in Chicana/o studies. A graduate program at UCLA would put
the university on the forefront of the field.
The Chávez Center is particularly important because of its
location in Los Angeles. California was about 32 percent Latina/o
in 2000 and is expected to have a Latina/o majority within a few
decades. Considering the demographic trends in the state ““
and the nation ““ studying Latina/o and Chicana/o issues is
crucial to a better understanding of history, immigration, health
care, religion and many other fields.
As the Chávez Center nears its goal of departmentalization,
only a few hurdles remain. It must be approved by the Executive
Committee and the chairman of the Academic Senate and then receive
final approval from Executive Vice Chancellor Daniel Neuman.
One of the issues that could slow final approval relates to the
proposed name for the department. Currently no UC academic
department includes an individual’s name in its official
title. The Graduate Council approved the title including César
Chávez’s name, but there are no guarantees the name will
stand. Still, the faculty and students of the center have made a
strong argument about the importance of keeping Chávez’s
name.
In any case, the university administration should not delay
final approval of the departmentalization. After more than 30 years
of work at UCLA, the students and professors who have devoted
themselves to Chicana/o studies deserve to have their own
department.