Course on white identity sees enrollment uptick

The recent incidents highlighting racial tensions on University of California campuses have had an unexpected if not unpredictable result at UC Irvine: Enrollment has boomed in the school’s course on white identity.

April 1 was the first meeting this quarter of the Cross Cultural Center’s elective course, “Whiteness, White Identity and Racial Justice.”

Mike Knox, a doctoral student at UCLA who created the UCI course in 2007, said it’s his biggest class yet.

“It was a big turnout for this class. It’s the largest to date,” Knox said. “Three of the students cited recent events (particularly the Compton Cookout at UC San Diego) as part of the reason they were interested in the class.”

In the past, the curriculum has focused on dissecting white identity at the university, in the media and in U.S. history. This quarter’s class will touch on the racial incidents that have occurred in recent months at UC campuses.

“The curriculum has always been relevant to what’s going on now,” Knox said. “I’m certain that we will explicitly address what’s been going on as part of the class.”

This is not your typical college class. Run as an elective course, the class typically has fewer than 20 students, and the syllabus is shaped by what students want to discuss, Knox said. The class examines the idea of racial privilege and how skin color can lead to social benefits or stigma, he said.

“I started the class four years ago because I felt it was important to be proactive about climate issues, to examine and deconstruct issues of race and racism through a critical analysis of privilege, and to engage members of the dominant racial group in the struggle to bring about racial justice,” Knox said.

Knox said he was surprised to see that his first classes weren’t filled with white kids. To the contrary.

Although the class seems particularly relevant during today’s tense racial climate at UCI, Knox said racist incidents are not new to the campus.

“We’ve actually had similar events on this campus in the past,” he said. “There was a fraternity that hosted a ‘Dirty Sanchez’ party. … There was some uproar and people were upset. It didn’t quite reach the level that the [Compton Cookout] did, but it’s not like we’re immune from that.”

Although the course is not required for any major or taught by a tenured professor, Knox said it has gotten the most interest this year.

“I don’t know if it’s a reaction to what has been happening … but I’ve been receiving more e-mails from people interested in taking the class this year… than any other time in the past,” he said.

It’s early in the spring quarter at UCI, so Knox said he is still sculpting the curriculum with his students, but he anticipates the recent events will provide hot topics and relevant examples to help students think about white identity.