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Gov. Gavin Newsom on Monday signed a bill requiring all 430,000 undergraduates at California State University to undertake ethnic studies, a notable rebuke to the university’s board of trustees, which had passed its own demand much wider last month.
The move comes amid growing pressure for ethnic studies in public education following protests and calls to dismantle systemic and unconscious racism, starting in schools.
The bill signed by Newsom, AB 1460, requires all undergraduates at CSU to take at least one three-credit course in ethnic studies, defined as being focused on African Americans, Asian Americans , Latin Americans and Native Americans.
Written by Congresswoman Shirley Weber, chair of the California Legislative Black Caucus and long-time professor of African studies at San Diego State University, the legislation will come into effect as of students graduating in the 2024 academic year. 25.
“We’re thrilled,” Weber said by phone Monday night. “It has been quite a journey, and we sigh with relief that this journey is over.”
The bill replaces a related mandate passed by the California State Board of Directors. This term, fostered by the chancellor’s office, provided for a three-unit course in ethnic studies and social justice, broadly defined to include studies on Jews, LGBTQ, and disability. Students could have satisfied him by taking a course focused solely on social justice or social movements – a concern of ethnic studies purists.
Newsom was sure to generate criticism regardless of his decision. Cal State Chancellor Timothy White, members of the university’s board of trustees and the academic senate of the university’s system had opposed Weber’s bill, expressing concerns about the legislative interference in program matters. White’s office had also estimated the cost of the legislative requirement at around $ 16.5 million per year, compared to $ 3-4 million for his version of the proposal.
The legislation was also opposed by some Jewish groups who said they feared it would promote “anti-Zionist advocacy and activism” at the CSU, although they did not provide specific examples.
But ethnic studies students, professors and their allies have said the time has passed for CSU, the birthplace of ethnic studies and where Latin American, black and Asian students are in the majority, to create a dedicated requirement. They said California law similarly required students to take a course in American institutions and ideals. And they criticized the Chancellor’s office for crafting too broad a proposal without consulting experts.
“We saw this as an effort to dilute and not address the real problem of the ethnic studies required at CSU,” Weber said. “It was also a proposal from those who are not even academics in the field.”
Melina Abdullah, professor of Pan-African studies at Cal State LA and head of Black Lives Matter, told a press conference this month that black studies “literally saved my life” as a growing up in East Oakland.
She said Weber’s bill was one of three bills that Black Lives Matter California supported. She called on the governor to sign it in order to create a “genuine ethnic studies” requirement at CSU.
“We are in a moment of movement in black life, and the intentionality behind this moment is to say dismantle white supremacy,” Abdullah said. “The idea that a person with no experience in ethnic studies might seek to redefine it and make it so broad that it makes no sense … It’s the equivalent of saying, ‘All lives matter.’ . Either you think black lives matter or you don’t.
Mike Uhlenkamp, a spokesperson for the Chancellor’s Office, said: “The university will start working to implement the requirements of the new legislation.”
A separate bill, expected to be passed by the legislature this month, would make ethnic studies a requirement in all public high schools. Last month, state officials released a new draft “model curriculum” for the course, nearly a year after the first draft was shelved due to controversy over groups. included and excluded. The latest project restored a focus on African Americans, Asian Americans, Latin Americans and Native Americans.
At community colleges in Los Angeles, where the vast majority of students are also Latin Americans, blacks and Asian Americans, professors recently asked the chancellor’s office to create a special study task force. ethnic.
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