I will now live-tweet @calstate's full meeting of the Board of Trustees. Up until now, you've been getting feeds from me of what committees have discussed or voted on. The full board will decide the Chancellor's proposal for an ethnic studies and social justice grad requirement.
During her first Chair report, Trustee Kimbell said, "I came across a quote by Lenin, Vladimir not john lennon, but seemed particularly apt. He said, there are decades when nothing happens and weeks when decades happen." Fair.
She also proposed a new revenue source for CSU: "...to seek revenue from the knowledge industry to fund the higher education institution that trains the minds of the future, and is the principal ladder of upward mobility for the state's population." (rough quote.)
Now it's Chancellor's White's report:
-14% of students are expected to attend in-person instruction in the fall.
-He delayed phased re-population of chancellor’s office to early January.
-CSU faces a grim new fiscal reality, with likely furloughs next fiscal year.
-14% of students are expected to attend in-person instruction in the fall.
-He delayed phased re-population of chancellor’s office to early January.
-CSU faces a grim new fiscal reality, with likely furloughs next fiscal year.
Some layoffs have already been occurring, he notes, but White is referring to so-called furlough programs worked out with unions who represent faculty and staff. He doesn't expect these programs in 20-21, but the next year is looking grim, he says.
OK, we are now getting into Ethnic Studies. A trustee proposed removing the CSU ethnic studies plan from a vote today. It will now be debated separately.
We now have a motion, backed by three members, to remove this item (CSU proposal for Ethnic Studies and Social Justice graduation requirement) as a vote and postpone it to the September hearing.
Trustee Abrego says that while trustees yesterday inveighed against #AB1460 as legislative overreach, the board and chair is disregarding the views of the statewide faculty group Ethnic Studies Council. Confused? Here's my and @omarsrashad's story: calmatters.org/education/2020…
Abrego: "Yesterday we learned that a student could meet the social justice requirement, without ever having to take an ethnic studies course. So why do we keep referring to it as an ethnic studies requirement, when it isn't true?"
Trustee Taylor is arguing to reject this motion to postpone the vote on CSU's proposal. Taylor says it's time to vote on this, one way or the other, because it's been discussed for six years.
Trustee Simon: She has gotten emails and calls from "national community" of ethnic studies scholars taking issue with the CSU ethnic studies proposal. She is concerned that as-written, the CSU proposal allows student forego any ethnic studies class.
Trustee Simon says she won't support the CSU proposal. By my count, that's four trustees voicing opposition to the CSU proposal. That wouldn't be enough to vote down the proposal.
Trustee Morales: "We call it something that is not, which is an ethnic studies requirement. That is not what it is, it's a social justice requirement, and I would applaud that and support that."
Trustee Khames: "It's really a social justice umbrella and then ethnic studies falls underneath," echoing what Simon said. She's sympathetic to concerns that AB1460 is a form of legislative intrusion, but also feels that the CSU proposal isn't honoring what faculty want.
Trustee Eisen says she trusts the faculty to teach ethnic studies and social justice appropriately. She also notes that AB1460 also says "social justice." Ethnic studies proponents would likely argue that's out of context -- social justice is taught through an ethnic studies lens
Tony Thurmond, California State Superintendent of Public Instruction, a trustee, says he supports the motion to postpone a vote on this. He says the emphasis should be on the four racial/ethnic groups and not a broader focus on social justice.
Thurmond makes five folks on the board who'd want to postpone a vote on this, looks like. He takes issue with Chair Kimbell saying postponing a vote on this is killing the measure, because it's likely Gov. Newsom will take action on #AB1460 before CSU Trustees meet in Sept.
(Chancellor White agrees with this analysis.)
Trustee Abrego says there's no guarantee that Newsom will sign #AB1460. He says the Trustees must take a vote on the merits on the CSU's proposal, not trying to anticipate what Newsom will do. @TonyThurmond agrees with Abrego.
Trustees Khames asks what's the point of being sensitive to legislative intrusion if the CSU measure is inconsistent with CSU's ideals. "Our proposal is a reflection of what we believe in," she said.
OK, the motion to postpone a vote on this fails. It got five yes's. Next up is a vote on approving the CSU ethnic studies and social justice proposal.
Trustee Morales wants an amendment: to change the name of the proposal from "ethnic studies and social justice" to just "social justice."
.@TonyThurmond Sides with Morales. By calling it "social justice." Doing so allows everyone to vote for it, especially those who like social justice but take issue to ethnic studies being in the title if it cannot be ensured that students take ethnic studies.
Simon agrees. CSU official Blanchard says that if CSU calls it just social justice, it would require a second mandated class for ethnic studies, and that's not what the CSU community wants. To me, that suggests he's admitting that a course in ethnic studies cannot be assured.
Trustee Khames says she supports the name change to just social justice. Trustee Eisen says dropping the name 'ethnic studies' drops the substance of the measure. But It's been made clear in this debate that ethnic studies won't be assured as a course in this proposal.
Eisen says that CSU has a much more demanding general-education curriculum -- 48 units out of a total 120. She says other institutions require closer to 25.
Morales: he disagrees with the framing of two-course mandate. He says if anyone takes ethnic studies, that satisfies social justice.
.@TonyThurmond: The CSU proposal renamed can be in harmony with #AB1460 in a way that the student wouldn't have to duplicate their efforts. By renaming the CSU requirement to just social justice, students would meet it by taking ethnic studies if #AB1460 passes.
Chancellor White seems to disagree with that rationale: "It's inescapable that we are having to find place for six credits, rather than three." Meaning a name change to just social justice would then require students to take two courses (six units/credits).
White then says if the point of the name change is to allow Trustees to support social justice but oppose this proposal, then those trustees can abstain. Trustee Faigin: He's confident CSU lawyers can find a way to avoid a six-unit requirement with this name change.
Trustee Faigin is still alarmed that under the CSU proposal, a student wouldn't be required to take an ethnic studies course. He then proposes an "or" to the CSU proposal to make clear ethnic studies is not social justice.
McGrory: We've been debating this for six years. It's time to vote. We shouldn't let the Legislature tell us what to do (but a vote on this doesn't preclude the Legislature from voting for #AB1460 or Gov. Newsom signing that bill).
.@TonyThurmond is asking for a name change out of respect for the definition of ethnic studies and its emphasis on the four disciplines. Next, a clarification from the Trustees: The CSU proposal doesn't have a title. So the vote on a name change would actually ...
be a motion to remove "ethnic studies" from the language of the requirement.
This amendment to the CSU proposal failed, with six yes's, including Thurmond. Now we vote on the CSU proposal
The CSU has formally approved the Chancellor White's proposal to have an ethnic studies and social justice requirement. There were five No votes.
@threadreaderapp unroll
This thread got severed somehow. Here are all my tweets, including the ones no longer visible in this thread. threadreaderapp.com/thread/1285993…
