Cal State University Los Angeles, following contentious debate, has voted to require students take at least one course on race and ethnicity before they graduate, reports Inside Higher Ed.
The measure, which was supported by Asian American Studies chair Ping Yao, does not require students to take the class within the Ethnic Studies program, as some had hoped.
Yao said she supported the resolution that passed because students already had numerous other opportunities to fulfill general education requirements through her department.
The decision by the Academic Senate helped open up a discussion on campus about race.
“I’ve been on campus 12 years now and this is the most meaningful and honest conversation about race we’ve ever had. That’s the wider success, the more important success, ” said Beth Baker-Cristales, head of Cal State Los Angeles’s Latin American studies department.
LATEST STORIES
You can read more about the debate in Inside Higher Ed.
RE: Cal State LA passes diversity requirement: I look forward to the day that ethnic studies is not needed, and that we can learn openly from TV, our neighbors, our classmates, our friends the various aspects of diversity through language, customs, dress, foods, values, and much more. I very much respect Cal State for having a requirement to take one class, any class on race and ethnicity and history.