University of California Berkeley - Blue and Gold Yearbook (Berkeley, CA)

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DEMAND DIVERSITY by Josefina Alvarez Diversity at UC Berkeley has been an important issue, if not controversial. Students of color have fought for basic units within the University, resulting in a long and aggressive struggle. In the 1960 ' s and again in the 1990 ' s, these struggles were brought before the Chancellor ' s office. However, both attempts at getting a multicultural center on campus were thwarted by bureaucracy. This year, the demands resurfaced and resulted in allocating the space in Heller Lounge as the Multicultural Center. In 1999 students protested and had hunger strikes to have their voices heard about maintaining the few accomplishments of the 60 ' s one being Ethnic Studies Department at the UC Berkeley Campus. The demands of the Third World Liberation Front (TWLF), which comprised of student organizers, community members and supporters, jumpstarted an organization proposing to the Chancellor direct actions to help improve injustices. The student organization, which began in 1969, teamed up with other groups for direct action, such as Asian American Political Alliance (AAPA), Mexican-American Student Confederation (MASC), and Afro-American Student Union (AASU). The TWLF grew to fight exclusively for the following demands in 1999: Establishment of a Third World College with four departments; Minority persons be appointed to administrative, faculty and staff positions at all levels in all campus units; Admission, financial aid, and academic assistance for minority students: work-study positions for minority students in minority communities and on high school campuses; Minorities be allowed to control all minority-related programs on campus; and No disciplinary action against student strikers. These 1999 demands were to be accomplished within a five-year period headed up by a committee appointed by the Chancellor. It was understood that $100,000 per year for five years was to be allocated to an institute of race and gender studies and that $90,000 for student recruitment efforts was to also be placed aside for Recruitment and Retention Centers and Ethnic Studies Department. A temporary space for a multi- cultural student center eventually found a permanent home in location of the renovation of lower Sproul and a mural by Ethnic Studies also found its humble abode in Barrows Hall. The TWLF worked to entitle students to a full procedure through the Code of Conduct to which a committee assigned to review the progress of this agreement every six months and to recommend action to assure its implementation. One of the demands strongly pushed in this past academic year was the multicultural center. Outgoing Chancellor Berdahl was pressured with the timeline and left funding to the ASUC, which allocated the space in Heller Lounge on the 2nd floor of Martin Luther King, Jr. Student Union. Heller Lounge is in the ASUC Student Union, which gives the opportunity for the ASUC to control this space. ASUC recently met to agree on the Memo of Understanding, which comprised of frequent discussions into hours of the night on topics ranging from the appropriate name of the center to when the contract ends. TWLF and supporters do not recognize this space as the Multicultural Center, and the staff still do not call it Multicultural Center. It is still referred to as Heller Lounge, with multicultural events put on by Multicultural Student Development offices. This temporary station Is only phase two. Phase three is putting a permanent multicultural center Incoming Chancellor Birgeneau has met with various groups including TWLF, bridges, and the Multicultural Student Development offices to have more insight and input regarding this space. ASUC has agreed to extend this space open for event until mid-fall semester. Birgeneau ' s staff is already planning for phase three of this project.

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The -Not My Multicultural Center- banner expresses students ' stance against the renaming of Heller lounge to a multicultural center. Heller Lounge is only a temporary space for more to come in future years. Students from TWLF (Third World Libera- tion Front) and other groups watch a video and hear from speakers on the historic and present demands for a multi- cultural center at the University. Student art and writing hang from the walls in the multicultural center express- ing individuals ' feelings on diversity and multiculturalism. as well as notes and demands to the University. L iJ.i.J :iS ki

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r- PTil Not Bf • by Tiffany Thornton This year marked the fortieth an- niversary of a turbulent period from which UC Berkeley acquired its liberal legacy. The Free Speech Movement erupted on campus at the end of the Civil Rights Movement in 1964. During this time, students rebelled against the administration and initiated pub- lic discourse through large protests, sit-ins, and demonstrations to defend free speech. The University prepared a week-long celebra- tion to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the Free Speech Movement The administration, no longer the adversary that it once was, had an integral role in planning the eight days of events hononng the movement it once tried to quell Karen Kenney, the Dean of Students, said, We ' re excited and proud of the history of the FSM. What it accomplished was very important (or the campus and the country it clarified that students and individuals have the right to express themselves However, although the administration has made attempts to incorporate the Free Speech To those who frequent the Free Speech Movement Caf4 In MamtfuDrinnne efforts of Mano Savio are memorialized on the walls of the entrance However, dedicating a campus commercial space to the move- ment was met with controversy at first Movement into its history, some veterans and students believe that the turn-around by the University and the police may only be su- perficial. However, this might run contrary to Chancellor Robert Birgeneau ' s statement on October 8th at a Friday noon rally, We have to be vigilant from the left and the right and allow people to hold opinions that are highly controversial. It doesn ' t seem that the administration has changed since the 60s, said Michael Ross- man, President of the Free Speech Movement Archives, who actively participated in the movement as a graduate student ' The admin- istration is happy to rhetorically approve the FSM, but is not happy to approve any but the most innocuous kinds of student activism. The police patrol car that then-sophomore Bettina Aptheker once stood on and a symbol of police authority to the 2.000 students who gathered around it was on loan from the UC Po- lice Department (or the noon rally on Friday Former presidential candidate Howard Dean, Associated Students o( the University o( California (ASUC) President Misha Leybov- ich, veterans o( the Free Speech Movement, including Aptheker and Assemblywoman Jackie Goldberg (D, Los Angeles), stood atop a platform erected behind the vehicle. When Leybovich spoke, he had Converse sneakers in his hand, mimicking the actions of Mario Savio and other movement leaders from four decades ago. The fact that the administration has part- nered with the FSM Archives to celebrate the past and bring awareness important issues o( today demonstrates that they really learned (orm the administrations mistakes in the 60s and is committed to help foster student activ- ism, Leybovich said. Planning the week-long celebration was a difficult task, as administrators, students, and movement veterans were trying to determine how to best honor the spirit of student activism 40 years ago. For example, several student lead- ers objected to using a police car in the rally. It represents police brutality and is offensive to many communities, especially communities of color, said CalSERVE Senator Dena Takrun. But despite weeks o( planning by the ASUC. movement veterans, and the adminis- tration, the events geared toward students did not draw the crowds that had been antici- pated. In (act, only one student showed up to