News surfaced earlier this week that certain budget cuts at SF State will affect the College of Ethnic Studies. Although the department will not be completely removed from the curriculum, the program will be impacted in a major way. According to an article published in the Golden Gate Xpress on February 18, 2016, the budget cuts will reduce the amount of classes in the department for the upcoming Fall semester.
The College of Ethnic Studies consists of four departments- , Asian American Studies, Africana Studies, Latino/Latina Studies, American Indian Studies and Race and Resistance Studies. According to the SF State website, there are over 175 courses within the department and holds about 6,000 students. Lecturers make up 40 percent of the faculty in the College of Ethnic Studies and would be at high risk of loosing their jobs, says the Golden Gate Xpress.
SF State is regarded as being the first institution in the nation to have a college of ethnic studies. The department was established in response to a student movement that protested against systematic discrimination and lack of representation of people of color. In 1968 and 1969 the Black Student Union and the Third World Liberation Font organized and led a strike demanding that the university admit and enroll more minority students, hire a diverse faculty and develop an ethnic studies school.
The Ethnic Studies representative for Associated Students, Inc., Shannon Deloso , spoke with the Golden Gate Xpress on the matter. “We hope that we can get together and find a common ground rather than just have everything taken away from us,” Deloso said. “This school prides itself on Ethnic Studies and social justice, so these cuts are such a contradiction.”
A student only forum will take place on Tuesday in the Ethnic Studies and Psychology building in Room 116 from 1-2 to further discuss the issue.
Both students and faculty are encouraged to attend a second meeting on Thursday at 9 a.m.
Below, is a short documentary by SF State graduate, Jonathan Craig. The film depicts the 1968 San Francisco Student Strike at San Francisco State and the culture of activism that still holds virtue today.