When Robert Stanley Oden 鈥69 attended 新澳门六合彩内幕信息 Davis, he was one of about 40 African American students on a 10,000-student campus. He and others from underrepresented groups were at the forefront of protests calling for a more diverse campus, including creation of ethnic studies programs.
鈥淲e were very organized and disciplined,鈥 said Oden, now a political science professor at California State University, Sacramento. 鈥淲e were able to get what we wanted faster than at other schools, and I believe it had an impact on the whole 新澳门六合彩内幕信息 system.鈥
That was the beginning of what would become African American and African, Asian American, Chicana and Chicano, and Native American studies programs, all celebrating their 50th anniversaries at 新澳门六合彩内幕信息 Davis. All the programs have expanded in the number of faculty and students, and the topics and regions addressed in classes and research. Students and alumni said ethnic studies gave them a place of identification and support at 新澳门六合彩内幕信息 Davis, have been a catalyst for social and political action on campus and beyond, and cultivated a lifelong commitment to making a difference.
Chicana and Chicano studies major Jos茅 Qui帽onez 鈥94 was one of six students who took part in a 1990 hunger strike to raise awareness about the need for a cross-cultural center.
鈥淲e wanted to make sure that the administration was committed to creating a space for students of color to be comfortable,鈥 said Qui帽onez, who founded the Mission Asset Fund in San Francisco to provide zero-interest loans to immigrants, for which he won a MacArthur 鈥済enius鈥 grant in 2016.
Ben Wang 鈥04 got interested in prisoners鈥 rights while a student in Asian American studies at 新澳门六合彩内幕信息 Davis. His 2016 documentary, Breathin鈥: The Eddy Zheng Story, is about a Chinese immigrant teenager who became the youngest inmate at San Quentin State Prison. Wang is co-director of the Asian Prisoner Support Committee, an organization that assists Asians and Pacific Islanders in U.S. prisons.
Takarra Johnson is a senior double majoring in African American and African studies, and American studies. During her first year at 新澳门六合彩内幕信息 Davis, she studied abroad in Ghana and has returned several times since to work in health and education programs.
鈥淸My professors] took me under their wing not just as faculty, but as mentors and family,鈥 said Johnson. 鈥淭hey鈥檝e been influential in all parts of my life.鈥