Students Rally and Walk Out Featured in Front Page of FIRE's Newsletter, 'The Torch'

Today we saw a very successful DOC rally that coincided with a DOC student walkout.

Featured speakers included the president of the Student Afirmative Action Committee (SAAC), the current MECHA chair, and Kent Lee from the LZC. Also, David Selby from the UAW Local 2865 was there to talk about the union's grievance process. In addition, Prof. Sharon Elise from Ethnic Studies spoke about the broader context and ramifications of the issue of the watering down of the DOC curriculum.

Chancellor Fox, Vice-Chancellor Applebaum, and former TMC provost Watson were there to listen to the speakers.

A news piece about the event has been posted in the front page of FIRE's (Foundation for Individual Rights in Education) blog, 'The Torch.'

Click HERE to read the article.

NEWS FLASH: Lumumba-Zapata Coalition Gets First Major Victory! (but there is still a lot more to be done...)

On May 11, Thurgood Marshall College Provost Allan Havis announced that he has formed a curriculum committee to review the Dimensions of Culture Program.Forming such a committee has been the central demand of the LZC from the beginning of its campaign, so we are delighted that the Provost has made this important decision, which is also a major victory for the us. This shows that students, TAs, and faculty working together to improve the D.O.C. program can have an effect and we thank those that have collaborated with us and supported the LZC!

The members of the new TMC Curriculum Committee include:

Robert Cancel (Literature & Third World Studies)
Yen Espiritu (Ethnic Studies)
David Guttierez (History)
Christine Hunefeldt (CILAS/ History)
Robert Horwitz (Communications)
Sara Johnson (Literature)
Cecil Lytle (Music and former TMC Provost)

We encourage you to contact these professors so that they understand the need to revise the DOC program and curriculum in order to ensure it once again stresses critical thinking, multicultural education, marginalized viewpoints, the study of structural inequality and social justice. They need to know that this is an important issue for all those concerned about diversity and campus equity at UCSD.

It is imperative that we remind our blog readers that this is not an issue about giving a particular political twist to the curriculum. We are not in favor of turning D.O.C. into a program of 'indoctrination,' as one faculty member recently claimed in an Op-Ed piece in the Guardian.

We seek a curriculum that meets and exceeds the standards that it's supposed to follow. In the case of D.O.C., this means the standards of what many call a 'multicultural education.' We want there to be the best, most critical multicultural education curriculum possible at UCSD. We want the syllabi to have the most up to date, insightful readings in the field. We also want the lectures to inspire students to think critically and revise their own unproblematized assumptions about the world. We are not interested in a program that just respects everybody’s opinions. Racism is not an opinion. Gender discrimination is not an opinion. Institutionalized poverty is not an opinion. Homophobia is not an opinion. As uncomfortable as these topics may be for some, these are facts that need to be engaged critically, and what better place to do so that in a program like D.O.C. that by its own mission statement should be specifically designed to do that.

While we are excited about this committee, we are disappointed about the following:

• that the Provost has said nothing about our demand that the university immediately rehire the two ousted TAs, Benjamin Balthaser and Scott Boehm. Ironically, by forming this committee, the provost took the very same step that Boehm and Balthaser were asking the administration to take and got fired for
• that the Provost did not consult the LZC about forming the committee
• that the Provost did not acknowledge that his decision had anything to do with our demands
• that the Provost still has not agreed to meet with the LZC publicly, despite our repeated attempts to arrange such a meeting
• we are also dismayed that there are no undergraduate students or DOC TAs on the committee. The provost claims this is technically impossible. We reject that claim. There are many other committees in the university that have student participation. Thankfully, some of the members in this newly formed committee have stated that they too want there to be students in the committee. We will continue to push for student participation in this and all other committees in the university. We would like this committee to appoint as members two TMC undergraduate students who are also members of the Student Affirmative Action Committee, as well as two experienced DOC TAs whose academic work intersects with the fields of ethnic studies, American Studies, critical race theory, critical gender studies, multicultural education and/or social justice.

We will continue to encourage the administration to follow our other demands. Our goal is to get them to do the right thing: improving the D.O.C. program and making sure that in UCSD and any other university TAs do not get fired for exercising their academic freedom and free speech rights.

Check out the other blog articles, particularly the one titled “DOC as Robust as Ever?” for a description of what we mean when we say that the D.O.C. program has been ‘watered down.’

To echo the voices of those who attended our teach-in #1 in front of the TMC Provost’s office on May 3, 2007:

“Keep DOC real! Keep DOC real! Keep DOC real! Keep DOC real”

THINGS YOU CAN DO TO MAKE THIS CAMPAIGN A SUCCESS

• Help us make the D.O.C. program as academically rigorous as possible!
• Remind your professors and administrators that students should have a say in their education!
• Tell the university that they can’t fire TAs solely for exercising their academic freedom and free speech rights!

Here are several things you can do to help make our campaign a success. The only way we’re going to win this is with your help:

1) Read this blog and get informed about how we can improve D.O.C. and get the two ousted TAs, Benjamin Balthaser and Scott Boehm, rehired.

2) Get your friends, TAs, and professors involved. Talk to them about what’s been going on in D.O.C. Send them an invitation to GET THE FACTS ABOUT D.O.C. by checking out this blog (http://improvedoc.blogspot.com).

3) If you would like to endorse the LZC’s demands as an individual, please copy and paste the following into an e-mail message with "LZC Endorsement" in the subject line and send it along with any additional personal comments to:

a. Chancellor Marye Anne Fox- chancellor@ucsd.edu
b. the TMC Provost, Alan Havis- ahavis@ucsd.edu
c. the UCSD Associate Vice-Chancellor of Undergraduate Education, Mark Appelbaum- mappelbaum@ucsd.edu
d. Our coalition address- lumumbazapata@gmail.com

Copy and paste the text below or write your own letter:

"I endorse the Lumumba-Zapata Coalition's list of demands, and ask that the Provost of Thurgood Marshall College agree to their request for a public meeting about recent changes to the Dimensions of Culture program. I also condemn the intimidation, harassment and dismissal of teaching assistants who raise questions about the direction of the program, which is antithetical to the goals of higher education, and a serious violation of free speech rights and academic freedom as understood in its broadest sense. On those grounds, I advocate for the immediate reinstatement of Benjamin Balthaser and Scott Boehm as teaching assistants in the DOC program."

4) If you are part of an organization that might want to endorse the LZC demands, please circulate them among your members and consider drafting a statement stating why the organization chooses to endorse them. Please e-mail such endorsements to lumumbazapata@gmail.com, to the TMC Provost Alan Havis- ahavis@ucsd.edu, to Vice-Chancellor of Undergraduate Education Appelbaum- mappelbaum@ucsd.edu, and to Chancellor Fox, chancellor@ucsd.edu.

5) Call or e-mail any or all of the following people in order to voice your concerns:

a. Alan Havis, Thurgood Marshall College Provost, (858) 534-4002
b. Mark Appelbaum, UCSD Associate Vice-Chancellor of Undergraduate Education, (858) 534-7959
c. Marye Anne Fox, UCSD Chancellor, (858) 534-3135

6) Join the Lumumba-Zapata Coalition! Send us an e-mail message with "LZC Interested" in the subject line. In your message please include your contact information, your campus/department/student organization affiliation and let us know you'd like to get involved in our campaign.

7) Attend the LZC’s meetings: Mondays, 2pm at the Fireside Lounge

Thank you for your support of this campaign. We appreciate your commitment to protecting academic freedom, promoting equitable universities and working towards social justice in higher education. The LZC needs your support in order to ensure UCSD is a campus where such ideals can be realized—or at the very least—discussed without the threat of disciplinary action.

The Facts About the LZC

A message from the Lumumba-Zapata Coalition/lumumbazapata@gmail.com

Many influential members of the UCSD community have been willfully
misrepresenting the facts about the LZC critique of recent changes to
the DOC program, as well as the teaching practices of Benjamin
Balthaser and Scott Boehm, the two long-time TAs that Dr. Shragge
wrongfully dismissed from their teaching positions in the program for
the upcoming 2007-08 academic year. The LZC, which consists of
undergraduate students, graduate students and faculty, has refrained
from engaging in such dishonest and unprofessional tactics, and would
like to set the record straight.

1. THEY SAY…

Balthaser and Boehm were dismissed from their long-standing positions
as DOC TAs because of their teaching performance. (Abe Shragge, UCSD
Guardian, April 30, 2007)

WE SAY…

Balthaser and Boehm were ousted for their criticism of recent changes to DOC.

During the "interviews" Dr. Shragge arranged for DOC TAs wishing to
return to the program next year, Dr. Shragge made it absolutely clear
that his decision to not re-hire them had nothing to do with their
teaching performance, for which they had consistently received
outstanding student and program evaluations. (In fact, Boehm won one
of only two teaching awards for his performance during the 2005-06
academic year.) Rather, their dismissal was due to their criticism of
changes to the program outside of class. Thus, the LZC can only
interpret Dr. Shragge's reversal as an attempt to cover up his
violation of Balthaser and Boehm's First Amendment free speech rights
and academic freedom as graduate student TAs to critique changes to
the DOC program and mission. Further, previous teaching staff (at the
graduate and faculty level) testify to having been ousted in a similar
manner from the program for their criticism of the direction of DOC.


2. THEY SAY…

DOC is as robust as ever, and that the LZC critique of the changes to
the program are completely unfounded and without any merit whatsoever.
(Michael Schudson, UCSD Guardian, May 3, 2007)

WE SAY…

The quality of education at DOC has declined as it has drifted away
from its mission.

During its first decade, the majority of professors teaching in DOC
were ladder-ranked faculty whose expertise fell within the purview of
the DOC program. Next fall, one permanent lecturer and two current
TAs will teach DOC lectures. The LZC claims that a major factor in
this dramatic change in faculty composition is DOC's gradual drift
away from its original mission, and its history of ousting professors,
lecturers and TAs who challenge the program to return to its
principles.

3. THEY SAY…

DOC TAs critical of changes to the program have argued that DOC
"should be a program in political indoctrination." (Abe Shragge,
Inside Higher Ed, May 3, 2007)

WE SAY…

No DOC TA or the LZC have ever stated that DOC should promote
political indoctrination.

We are simply defending the mission of the DOC program by pointing out
how DOC has strayed from its commitments to teaching social justice
and providing students with a rigorous and challenging multicultural
education. We are fundamentally opposed to the idea that DOC should
be a vehicle of political indoctrination.

4. THEY SAY…

As DOC TAs, Balthaser and Boehm required their students to follow
alternative syllabi, instead of the DOC syllabus. (Nancy Gilson, Mass
E-mail, May 3, 2007—sent at the request of TMC Provost Allan Havis)

WE SAY…

Neither Balthaser nor Boehm ever required students to follow an
alternative syllabus.

Like the majority of DOC TAs who are encouraged to do so by DOC
administration, both Balthaser and Boehm used supplementary texts in
their sections, and Boehm structured highly successful student
presentations around material from outside the course reader closely
related to the course—a teaching practice for which he was repeatedly
praised by DOC administrators and students over the past three years.

5. THEY SAY…

The LZC has personally attacked Nancy Gilson, Mary Blair-Loy and/or
Abe Shragge, and that our attacks are unfounded. (Michael Schudson,
UCSD Guardian, May 3, 2007 and Michael Bernstein, Mass E-Mail, May 21,
2007—sent to all TMC students by TMC Provost Allan Havis)

WE SAY…

The LZC has never personally attacked anybody.

Our structural argument that the majority of the recent changes to DOC
have been overseen by professors whose academic training and research
is not necessarily the most appropriate for DOC has been
misinterpreted and misrepresented by Michael Schudson and Michael
Bernstein as virulent personal attacks on a few of the individuals who
are implicated in our global critique. We feel strongly that such
accusations are meant to discredit the LZC, and to distract people who
have limited knowledge about DOC from taking our critiques seriously.
The fact that the TMC Provost has established a curriculum committee
to review the DOC program is evidence that our critique—unlike that of
many of our outspoken opponents—is not rooted in unfounded hostility,
but in well-researched and logical argument.

6. THEY SAY…

TMC and DOC administrators and staff cannot discuss the wrongful
dismissal of Balthaser and Boehm because they have filed a union
grievance. (Allan Havis, E-Mail, May 17, 2007 and Abe Shragge, DOC
Meeting, May 21, 2007)

WE SAY…

In consultation with the union, the LZC has confirmed that no such
prohibitions exist.

We believe that by employing this tactic university administration—and
particularly the TMC Provost—is attempting to avoid any confrontations
with UCSD community members who are outraged by the wrongful dismissal
of Balthaser and Boehm. He has cancelled meetings with concerned
faculty, and has not scheduled meetings with students who have
garnered the support of thousands of UCSD community members in the
form of petitions and resolutions. He also refuses to meet with the
LZC or with Balthaser and Boehm, all of whom have repeatedly requested
a meeting with him to discuss their concerns.

American Association of University Professors (AAUP) Expresses Concern About Balthaser/Boehm Case

Here's a letter of concern we just received from the AAUP's Program in Academic Freedom and Tenure regarding the non-rehiring (i.e., firing) of two D.O.C. TAs, Scott Boehm and Benjamin Balthaser.
---------------------------------
May 21, 2007

Dear Mr. Boehm and Mr. Balthasar:

We have reviewed the documents you sent us concerning your status as graduate teaching assistants in the Dimensions of Culture (DOC) program in the Thurgood Marshall College of the University of California, San Diego. According to your account of the events in question, you were each informed during the second week in April by the director of the DOC program that your appointments as teaching assistants in the program would not be renewed for the 2007-08 academic year.

In your respective April meetings with the director, you state you were told that the decision against renewing your appointments was not because of concern about the quality of your teaching, which apparently has been evaluated quite favorably, but instead because you were “undermining” the program and “disrespectful” of the director’s policies. You further indicate that each of you has been active in questioning the academic content and direction of the DOC program.

If what you have stated to us is essentially accurate, then the decision not to renew your appointments presents a troubling academic freedom issue. For what this Association has to say with regard to graduate students and academic freedom, see the enclosed Statement on Graduate Students (note in particular numbered paragraph 1 under “Recommended Standards,” which states that graduate students “should be able to express their opinions freely about matters of institutional policy”).

We understand that together you have filed a grievance pursuant to the Agreement between The Regents of the University of California and the International Union, United Automobile, Aerospace and Agricultural Implement Workers of America (UAWE), AFL-CIO, Academic Students Employees Unit. We hope that the grievance will result in a timely and just resolution of your cases.

Sincerely,

Jonathan Knight
Director, Program in Academic Freedom and Tenure

GSA demands that UCSD rehire two ousted TAs

On May 15, UCSD's Graduate Student Association (GSA) passed an unanimous resolution with two key demands:

• That UCSD ivestigate hiring practices at TMC’s D.O.C. program
• That the university immediately rehire Scott Boehm and Benjamin Balthaser, the two recently ousted D.O.C. TAs

In their meeting about this issue, GSA officials expressed real concern about the dangerous precedent that the non-rehiring (i.e. firing) of Boehm and Balthaser only for criticisng the D.O.C. program would set for all graduate student TAs on campus.

This is one of many other voices that are joining the LZC in demanding that UCSD to do the right thing.

Click HERE to read the entire resolution.

NOW AVAILABLE: LZC’s Trifold Pamphlet: “What’s Happened to UCSD’s Only College Founded by Students?”

• Download this pamphlet
• Email it to as many people as you can
• Print it, photocopy it, pass it around.
• Help us get the word out about what’s wrong with TMC’s D.O.C. program and what we can do to improve it.

To dowload it, click HERE (once you click this, go to the "click here to start download" link to get the file).

Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE) endorses the demand to rehire the two ousted D.O.C. TAs

More good news! The Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE: www.thefire.org) has endorsed our demand to get the university to rehire the two most resently ousted D.O.C. TAs, Benjamin Balthaser and Scott Boehm.

They have written a long letter to Chancelor Fox and Provost Havis demanding that they be immediately reinstated and that the university investigate their non-rehiring (i.e., firing). It provides an excellent argument for why the firing of these TAs constitutes a clear violation of academic freedom and free speech.

Click HERE to download a PDF copy of the letter (once you click this, go to the "click here to start download" link to get the file).

TEACH IN #2!: An educational presentation- 'How D.O.C. Got Watered Down,' was a SUCCESS!

On Tuesday, May 15th, 4pm, the Cross Cultural Center Lecture Hall, the Lumumba-Zapata Coalition held a public educational meeting to "get the facts about DOC." The meeting was a success. Many students and even some faculty attended the event. Everybody who spoke agreed with our demands and most pledged their support for the LZC.

This meeting was opportunity for people who wanted more information about what we mean when we say the curriculum was watered down, about faculty and hiring decisions, and regarding the dismissal of teaching staff and faculty for their stance concerning the program.

Given the administration's current claim that nothing substantial has changed and the program is "robust" as ever, we invited the UCSD community to come and get the truth abouyt D.O.C.

Thanks to all of those who attended!

Former D.O.C. Professor Writes Letter to TMC Faculty About Program's Problems (Confirming LZC's Criticisms)

Dear all:

Here's a letter Prof. Winnie Woodhull wrote to the TMC faculty. She is a former D.O.C. lecturer as well as an associate professor in the Literature Dept. Like the two recently ousted TAs, Scott Boehm and Benjamin Balthaser, she was 'not rehired' to teach due to her internal criticisms of the program.

Here's a preview (click HERE to read the full letter)
------------------
Dear colleagues,

I write to urge you not to jump to conclusions based on Nancy Gilson’s account of developments in DOC over the past few years. I taught in DOC 3, the course on
”Imagination,” for five years, the last of which was under the direction of Abe Shragge, with Nancy Gilson just coming on board as well. I feel strongly that the current conflicts are not about TAs creating parallel syllabi, which no one has done, or about TAs requiring students to read short supplementary texts for discussion in section, which has long been standard practice not only in DOC and the other writing programs, in the Department of Literature and the Third World Studies Program, but also in the Critical Gender Studies Program which, like DOC, employs TAs from various departments across the humanities and social sciences. From my perspective, the graduate and undergraduate students who have organized the Lumumba-Zapata Coalition are right to claim that DOC has abandoned its original mission. Indeed, when I was teaching in DOC 3, I was constantly in the position of resisting the director’s efforts to avoid controversial matters altogether and to substitute edutainment for intellectual work.

Click HERE to read the full text

Lots of Media Coverage!

The LZC's campaign to return the D.O.C. curriculum to its founding principles and rehire the two ousted D.O.C. TAs, Benjamin Balthaser and Scott Boehm has received plenty of media coverage over the past two weeks.

We have set up a wiki site that contains links to all the articles, Op-Eds, and letters to the editor on this important issue.

Click HERE to read these articles.

Stay tuned to this blog for future articles in the news.

May 3 teach-in on youtube!

Hey all. In case you missed it, the May 3 teach in is now on youtube. Because we can't post the whole thing in one big chunk, we split it into ten short segments.

Click HERE for the link to the whole video

Also, for a preview, click on the play button below to see the first part!

D.O.C. as Robust as Ever? You decide…

In a recent UCSD Guardian article by Professor Michael Schudson, he claimed that DOC was “as robust as ever.” The Lumumba-Zapata Coalition disagrees. We believe that DOC has experienced a sharp decline in both its commitment to addressing structural inequality, as well as its reputation for providing students with a stimulating and challenging education. We feel there is a positive correlation between having a point of view and quality of education, as a clear sense of mission translates into coherent teaching that students can respond to as they see fit. In the past, DOC used to provide students with the opportunity to respond intelligently to complex social issues that involve race, class, gender and sexuality in the United States. We seek to reinvigorate DOC so that it returns to an intellectually solid program that foregrounds the experiences of marginalized groups in U.S. society.

Click HERE for more information

LZC Offers Earnest Input to D.O.C.

Hey folks. This is the Op-Ed the LZC published in UCSD's guardian this week. It is a direct response to Michael Schudson's Op-Ed dismissing our concerns and demands.

Click HERE to access the original Guardian article online.

Also, click HERE to read Prof. Michael Schudson's piece claiming that the "D.O.C. Program is as robust as ever"

----------------

Guest Commentary: LZC Offers Earnest Input to D.O.C.
By the Lumumba-Zapata Coalition
The Guardian, May 10, 2007

When Benjamin Balthaser interviewed to renew his contract with the Dimensions of Culture writing program, he was told he would not be welcomed back. When he asked if this had anything to do with his teaching, he was told emphatically no; his evaluations had been exemplary. After four years of teaching D.O.C., he was told to go because of his public critique of the program.

A day later, a second TA, Scott Boehm, was told the same thing: After winning the Thurgood Marshall College Distinguished Teaching Award the year before, he would not be welcomed back because of public statements he'd made about the D.O.C. program. That D.O.C. Director Abraham Shragge said as much to InsideHigherEd.com and then a day later changed his story for the Guardian should come as little surprise, since dismissing two TAs with distinguished teaching records for their public speech is a clear violation of academic freedom, let alone the First Amendment.

So what did these two TAs say that was so horrible? That education with an emphasis on social justice is a bad idea? That students should leave Marshall College for Revelle College? They argued that D.O.C. had strayed in the past five years from its core principles of social justice. They said that D.O.C. watered down its commitment to viewpoints marginalized by inequities of race, class or gender and that it diminished its critique of dominant culture. The Lumumba-Zapata Coalition marvels that, 30 years after the founding of Third College in a wave of student protest, demanding a college that would address the intellectual and social needs of marginalized students and students of color, attempting to hold up these principles in public debate could be grounds for censure and dismissal.

And what is remarkable about the changes to D.O.C. is not their wide-ranging nature, but rather their consistency. Students were once asked to write about structural racism in their first quarter; they are no longer. Students were once asked to write about affirmative action in their second; they are no longer. Students were once asked to consider issues of police brutality, imperialism and the racialization of the prison system; they are no longer. Students were once asked to read about slavery and the genocide of Native Americans alongside the Constitution and the Federalist Papers; the Founding Fathers are now uncritically praised.

Is race still a topic in D.O.C.? Of course. Does D.O.C. still discuss inequality and other important issues? Yes. We aren't saying it doesn't; we are asking for open dialogue about changes to a program that is central to aspirations for social justice.

This is not a question of politics. This is a question of whether D.O.C. is meeting the mission it set for itself and the academic standard it's supposed to achieve. Looking at the readings is not enough. Just to name a few examples from recent years, minstrelsy has been taught as satire with no mention of racism. The position of the Family Research Council - which says gays are perverse sex criminals - has been taught as just another point of view. Allan Bloom's assault on multi-cultural education has been taught as daring intellectual individualism and Thurgood Marshall's famous dissent in the first affirmative action case isn't discussed in the college bearing his name. Asking for tenured faculty, who have expertise in the fields they teach, is not a violation of academic freedom, as professor Michael Schudson claims - it is merely a request for the quality of education students deserve.

What the LZC asks for is simple: an advisory committee made up of students from Thurgood Marshall College Student Council and the Student Affirmative Action Committee, long-time TAs and, most centrally, faculty who have expertise in the areas outlined in the original plan for the program: ethnic studies, critical race theory, American studies, critical gender studies and Third World Studies. This demand has been endorsed by 17 student and faculty organizations including the Student Affirmative Action Committee and its seven student-member organizations, the Office of Academic and Support and Instructional Services, Concilio, the Cross Cultural Center, the ethnic studies department, the Native American Alumni Association, Project YANO and others. Together they represent the views of thousands of students and faculty on campus and in the community. These are the same concerns that Schudson calls "laughable." If D.O.C. is the same as ever, one must ask why many of its original supporters now question its direction.

The hypocrisy of an administration that stands for critical dialogue yet silences TAs by removing them, that changes a program founded by students of color without consulting those chosen to represent them, that says one thing to the public and another in private is not exceptional; it is all too typical. UCSD is ostensibly committed to waving the flag of diversity; there is a question about how far it will to go to achieve it. The D.O.C. administrators want to say the program is the same as ever, but in fact they avoid providing a program that challenges students. Diversity is not about making everyone happy - it is about justice and meaningful, engaged dialogue.

Testimonials from Two D.O.C. Teaching Assistants

Click HERE to read two testimonials from one current and one former DOC TA. They both attest not only to the gradual watering down of TMC's Dimensions of Culture curriculum but also show how DOC TAs have been harassed for speaking out against these changes.

Letter to Guardian editor by D.O.C. freshman

Hey all. Thanks to D.O.C. student Samantha Huang for writing this well written letter to the editor of UCSD's newspaper, The Guardian. This shows how this campaign is primarily by and for the college's students who want to have a say about the direction the education is going. That is something we need to keep reminding the UCSD administration.

Click HERE to read the letter (scroll below)