{"id":7128,"date":"2021-11-01T11:00:00","date_gmt":"2021-11-01T18:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/the-roar.net\/?p=7128"},"modified":"2021-10-29T11:01:13","modified_gmt":"2021-10-29T18:01:13","slug":"san-jose-city-college-centennial-ethnic-studies","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/the-roar.net\/?p=7128","title":{"rendered":"San Jos\u00e9 City College Centennial: Ethnic Studies"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
Earlier this year, California became the first state to approve a model curriculum for Ethnic Studies in public K-12 schools and a global health crisis continued to disproportionately affect BIPOC communities across the nation. Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a bill that requires all CSU (California State University) students to take an Ethnic Studies class and Derek Chauvin was sentenced to 22.5 years in prison. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s hard to stay optimistic when progress is accompanied by relentless reminders of tragedy, but equity and long-lasting change begins with education reform, and these recent developments are cause to celebrate. From the political uprisings of the 1960s to today, SJCC\u2019s community has always worked towards greater equity. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
As we celebrate our centennial, we are proud to reflect back on our revolutionary past and to report that our Ethnic Studies Department is not only thriving but leading the way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“We came up with courses that had never been taught before. We muddled through it, and we got it done.”<\/p>Rudy Cordova, Former SJCC Ethnic Studies Faculty<\/cite><\/blockquote><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
D\u00eda de los Muertos celebration at San Jos\u00e9 City College in 2019. The Jag Tones perform. Left to right: Juan Gamboa, Jes\u00fas Covarrubias, and Joaquin Covarrubias.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n
A Brief History of Ethnic Studies at San Jos\u00e9 City College<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
In the late 1960s, the Third World Liberation Front strikes rocked the Bay Area. Universities in San Francisco and Berkeley were central to the student-led movement, but they weren\u2019t alone. They also coincided with the famous walkouts at Roosevelt Junior High School in San Jos\u00e9, which held strong ties to the SJCC community. The cumulative momentum from all these events sparked the birth of a new and essential discipline. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cSan Jos\u00e9 City College in the 60s and 70s was actually kind of a hotbed of political activism,\u201d said former Ethnic Studies faculty, Jes\u00fas Covarrubias. \u201cThere was this growing movement for educational reform that included a desire to develop a curriculum that reflected the diversity within the community.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Soon after the strikes of \u201868 and \u201869, founding faculty Jack Burroughs, Thien Tran, Rudy Cordova, and Charles Murry worked tirelessly to create revolutionary courses in Native American, Asian, Mexican American, and Black Studies respectively. \u201cWe came up with courses that had never been taught before. We muddled through it, and we got it done,\u201d Cordova said in an interview. \u201cWe did what was needed.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In 1974 these courses came to be officially housed under a new Ethnic Studies Program. Around the same time, organizations like Umoja, MEChA (Movimiento Estudiantil Chicano de Aztl\u00e1n), the Black Student Union and the Filipino Student Association (FASA) were either founded or active.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This progress was thanks to passionate faculty and a determined student body. Student groups were constantly fighting for social justice, whether it was protesting minority firings or Governor Reagan\u2019s EOP budget cuts. Today this revolutionary energy is being channelled into a long-lasting Ethnic Studies Department that will set the standard for community colleges everywhere.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“The development of new courses just adds new visibility and opportunities for African American Studies that haven’t existed previously.”<\/p>Dr. Khalid White, SJCC Ethnic Studies Faculty<\/cite><\/blockquote><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
SJCC\u2019s Ethnic Studies Department is a Leader in California<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Since its explosive beginnings, the Ethnic Studies Department at SJCC has had its ups and downs. Now, thanks to the demand caused by new state-wide Ethnic Studies requirements and alignment with movements like Stop AAPI Hate, Black Lives Matter, and family reunification efforts at the U.S.-Mexico border, there is a heightened sense of urgency, but also of possibility.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
SJCC was already positioned to answer the call for Ethnic Studies. The department has been growing rapidly for the past decade. Covarrubias, who came to the department in 1997, played a key role in expanding it. He served as interim Dean of Social Sciences and Academic Senate President and was able to develop a variety of courses and advocate for significant changes. A major one \u2014 getting a two semester Mexican American History class he developed approved as satisfying the two semester U.S. History requirement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Covarrubias has since moved to the Music Department, creating a popular new course: Chicanx\/Latinx Music in the U.S. \u2014 but three new full-time faculty continue to collaborate with more senior faculty members to build an enduring Ethnic Studies Program. Two new adjunct faculty in African American (AFAM) Studies have also joined.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the last few years, full-time faculty member, Dr. Khalid White collaborated with colleagues to create courses like The African American Male Identity, The African American Family, and African Cinema. Dr. Cindy Huynh developed and taught Ethnic Film, Women of Color in the U.S., and Asian Pacific American Culture. Together with Juan Gamboa and Andr\u00e9s Rodrigez they have developed a new honors course and Intro to Critical Race & Social Justice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe development of new courses just adds new visibility and new opportunities for African American Studies that haven’t existed previously,\u201d Dr. White said in an interview. \u201cSo it’s very exciting times.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
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