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Chicano Studies at UCLA: A Controversy with National Implications.
As part of the larger national debate over such issues as "political correctness," multiculturalism and the competing ideologies of Eurocentrism and Afrocentrism have stirred unabated controversy in California over the development of Chicano Studies and its place in the curricular and research agendas of the state's colleges and universities. Not surprisingly, the spotlight in this sometimes rancorous discussion has fallen on UCLA, the largest campus in the prestigious University of California system and the one located in a metropolitan area with the largest Mexican-origin population outside Mexico City.
The controversy began at UCLA some eighteen months ago when, according to regular practice, a faculty committee reviewed the current B.A. program in Chicano Studies, identified certain deficiencies and recommended remedies. By way of emphasizing the need for prompt action, the committee suggested suspending admission to the program until improvements were accomplished.
Some Chicano students interpreted the possible suspension of admission as the first step in dismantling Chicano Studies altogether and began to organize in favor of saving and strengthening Chicano Studies. Along with faculty allies, and with support from other California campuses, the students soon staked out a position with two major components: first, that given the vast population of people of Mexican origin in the Los Angeles area and in California, UCLA was obligated to mount significant curricular and research programs that serve the Chicano community; and, second, that the best way -- indeed, the only way -- to assure the successful engagement of these obligations was to confer departmental status to Chicano Studies.
For over a year now, Chicano students at UCLA have been pushing for an academic department with such passion that their efforts have attracted the attention of the media (especially the local Spanish-language press and television), community and professional groups, and politicians from as far away as Sacramento, the state capital. More than a few UCLA faculty and administrators have been startled by the vehemence generated over a degree program that, after all, has traditionally...