The sound of beating African drums and chants from a group of more than 50 echoed from the University Union Southwest Terrace yesterday at noon.
“No justice, no peace,” the group of students, faculty and other supporters chanted.
The chants continued through hallways, eventually landing in front of Brotman Hall and reaching the front doors of President F. King Alexander’s office. Alexander, however, was away traveling at the time.
“No department, no peace,” the group said in unison.
The words bounced off the walls and doorways of the building, which were blocked off and guarded by University Police.
“No diversity, no peace.”
The Africana studies rally aimed to bring attention to College of Liberal Arts Dean David Wallace’s proposal to turn the Department of Africana Studies into a program.
“They argue that it’s financial,” Chair of Africana studies Maulana Karenga said. “They find money for what they want. There’s money for baseball, there’s money for basketball … We have to support diversity.”
Africana Studies Day, which was organized by the Africana Studies Student Association and African Student Union, also featured lectures and presentations from California Faculty Association’s Los Angeles Chapter President Melina Abdullah as well as Africana studies professors and students.
Kris Kidd, a junior communications and journalism major and member of the African Student Union, said the rally’s turnout was a success.
“People above the department in a way were against it [the rally],” Kidd said. “It was more informative of student issues.”
Karenga, who also serves as a professor and adviser for the department, voiced the need for ethnic studies in education at the rally. He urged more students to take classes in ethnic studies.
“We all deserve a good world, but we must struggle for it,” Karenga said during his speech at the rally.
The Africana Studies Student Association had support from members of Cal State Dominguez Hills, Cal State Northridge and Cal State Los Angeles to promote the department and values of diversity in education. Karenga said that widespread support also came in a letter from the California Legislative Black Caucus in Sacramento.
Wallace, who sent out the proposal to change the Africana studies department into a program, said that the number of tenured faculty defines a department status. Currently, Africana studies has only three tenured faculty when six tenured faculty are required to keep departmental status.
Karenga said that in the past eight years, no new faculty have been hired under the Africana studies department. The cuts to multicultural studies, he said, have diminished the ethnic studies courses needed for a well-rounded education.
“Quality education by definition is multicultural education,” Karenga said. “One of the fundamental aims in CSULB is to promote diversity.”
According to CSULB Associate Vice President of Legislative and External Relations Terri Carbaugh, students and faculty will not see a difference if the proposal to transfer the department into a program follows through.
“Our end goal is to really stabilize the program until we can somehow grow enrollments and maintain faculty,” she said.
If the department becomes a program, students will still be able to major and minor in Africana studies, Carbaugh said.
Wallace said that shrinking of the department or lessening the value of the course work is not the intention of the proposal.
Wallace also said that cuts are not being made to just ethnic studies departments.
“Every department in the college is going through curriculum review,” he said. “Philosophy took a much bigger cut.”
Even though it is not known how many courses may be cut from the Africana studies department, if the proposal goes through, Carbaugh said that other departments have seen worse cuts. The religious studies department has seen five courses cut for spring 2013 and philosophy saw nine courses cut, Carbaugh said.
According to Wallace, the proposal to make Africana studies a program also includes the fact that the department needs to have a curriculum review in order to offer the core studies needed to sustain the major. Wallace said that if the proposal goes through, the program status would not be permanent and could change if there is more student demand for the courses.
“President Alexander intends to retain Africana studies knowledge on our campus and provide related instruction and degrees for our students,” Carbaugh said. “Dean Wallace’s efforts help provide a safety net for this field of study. As enrollments in Africana studies increase, returning to departmental status is very feasible.”
For Kidd, Africana and ethnic studies are important, necessary resources and curricula in higher education.
“The media does not portray or represent Africans [justly],” Kidd said. “We need that in our schools.”
Listen to what the students had to say at the Africana studies rally here.