Faculty and students at California State University, Fresno have organized the Save Ethnic Studies Committee and will kick off their campaign with a rally and presentation Thursday, March 3, on campus.
The action is part of a national Save Ethnic Studies Tour movement, in response to legislation approved in Arizona in 2010 that bans racial and ethnic studies from curricula in state-funding elementary and high schools.
In Fresno, a rally is planned 2-3 p.m. in the Free Speech Area followed by a 90-minute discussion at 3:30 in McLane Hall, Room 161, featuring teachers from the Tucson Unified School Distinct. Speaking will be Sean Arce, director of Mexican American Studies for the district, and Alexandro “Salo” Escamilla, a Mexican American Studies middle-school teacher.
A clip from the documentary “Precious Knowledge” by Dos Vatos Productions also will be shown during the discussion. The film is an account of Tucson High School students and teachers trying to save their Mexican American Studies classes.
Fresno State’s Chicano and Latin American Studies, Africana and American Indian Studies programs and the Latino Faculty and Staff Association are cosponsors of the campus events organized by the new committee and the Latina/o Caucus of the California Faculty Association.
The tour is visiting 12 other CSU campuses to counter the Arizona legislation.
“This endeavor is about protecting Raza Studies and Ethnic Studies nationally,” said Dr. Ramon Sanchez, a professor in the Chicano and Latin American Studies at Fresno State. “We are asking the community to help preserve an important academic component that has flourished the past 40 years and provides enrichment for our diverse communities.”
For more information, contact Sanchez at 559.278.2848 or Hector de la Cerda at 415.994.9738.
