UCI Protesters Win Guarantee on Asian Studies

IRVINE —  About 100 students, mostly Asian-American, occupied the acting chancellor’s office at UC Irvine on Thursday, staging a vocal but peaceful protest that ended after four hours with officials reaffirming that they will hire four professors to teach Asian-American studies.

While school officials said they have been interviewing candidates for the vacancies, the agreement signed Thursday by Vice Chancellor Anne Spence promises that those positions will be filled and will not be eliminated in budget cuts, as students had feared.

“We got it guaranteed,” said John Ing, a student leader. “This is something in concrete.”

But the agreement does not specify when the positions might be filled. Plans for an Asian-American studies program were approved by the university three years ago, but school officials say they haven’t been able to find teachers.

Thursday’s events also marked the end of 35 days of fasting in shifts by students from the Asian Pacific Student Assn. who had pitched a tent in front the administration building.

Though Asian-Americans make up 43% of its student population, UC Irvine is one of two UC campuses without an Asian-American studies program, the students said.

The noon rally drew about 200 students to the front of the administration building for speeches.

At times, the demonstration took on a multicultural flair, with protesters chanting an old United Farm Workers war cry, “Si se puede!” (yes we can).

Some student participants in a UCLA hunger strike also spoke.

“I came to show support for the Asian-American students looking for a relevant education for them,” said Joaquin Ochoa, who fasted for 13 days at UCLA and said he will fast another two days for his UC Irvine colleagues.

Alvarao Maldonado, 40, whose son participated in the UCLA protest, told the crowd: “We just can’t have Euro-centric interpretation of what life is about. European culture has a lot to give us, but so does Asian culture.”

Student leader Ing made an impassioned speech, saying ethnic studies will ensure more tolerance among the races and help unite America.

“Ethnic studies is the tool that will break the shackles of our intellectual oppression,” Ing said.

After the speeches, about 100 students marched into the office of Acting Chancellor L. Dennis Smith, demanding to see him. Smith wasn’t there.

The students then staged a sit-in, chanted slogans, pounded on walls and pitched a tent in the office.

After several hours of talks with Smith’s aides, the students walked across campus to the Academic Senate office, where they presented Smith with 3,500 petition signatures.

Smith told the crowd he was “impressed by the enormity of the effort. . . . The administration will remain available to negotiations with the students.”

Academic Senate chairman Eric Stanbridge also praised the protesters.

“This is the clearest message the Academic Senate has ever received,” Stanbridge said.

When the hunger strike began, the students had demanded not only an Asian-American studies program but seven full-time teachers.

The university has had two part-time teachers of Asian-American studies, one of whom recently became tenured.

University officials announced earlier Thursday that they will hire a second Asian-American academic counselor and a second program coordinator. Students will have a voice in selecting them and the new professors.

“We are pleased to have shown that the commitment being made to the Asian-American studies program is sincere and that progress will continue to be made,” Spence said in a prepared statement.

But not everyone agreed that the protest had netted much.

“All we get are promises from the administration,” said one protestor, who declined to give his name. “All they do is talk and talk. They’ve been doing it for months. We should have gotten more.”

Ing, however, said the Asian-American students will use Thursday’s agreement as “momentum.”

“We feel it was very positive,” Ing said. “Sure, more could have been done, but instead of harping on what we didn’t accomplish, we should be focusing on what we did accomplish, and that was a lot.”