➡ Submission by Kristine Jan Espinoza (Academic Advisor, UCLA Asian American Studies Department)

➡ Photography by Florante Peter Ibanez (Former Student, UCLA Asian American Studies)

Date: September 26, 2017 Description: As part of True Bruin Welcome, the Ethnic and Indigenous Studies Welcome (taking place at Sunset Village Plaza on Tuesday, September 26, 2017), gathered ethnic and indigenous studies academic units, organized research units, and affiliated identity student groups together to ring in the 2017-18 academic year.  Welcoming remarks were made by the Dean of UCLA Social Sciences, Dr. Darnell Hunt, Institute of American Cultures Vice Provost, Dr. David Yoo, and respective chairs of each academic unit, Professor Eric Avila (César E. Chávez Department of Chicana and Chicano Studies), Professor Victor Bascara (Asian American Studies Department), Professor Marcus Hunter (Department of African American Studies), and Professor Mishuana Goeman (American Indian Studies IDP). The welcome was an opportunity for students, faculty, and staff to learn (more) about ethnic and indigenous studies at UCLA. Attendance:

• Approximately 275 people attended the event (faculty, students, and staff)

Participating Organizations:

• Institute of American Cultures:
  • American Indian Studies Center
  • Asian American Studies Center
  • Chicano Studies Research Center
  • Ralph J. Bunche Center for African American Studies
• Academic Units:
  • American Indian Studies IDP (a part of the American Indian Studies Center)
  • Asian American Studies Department
  • César E. Chávez Department of Chicana and Chicano Studies
  • Department of African American Studies
  • Labor and Workplace Studies Minor
• Student Organizations:
  • Asian Pacific Coalition
  • Black Graduate Student Association
  • MEChA de UCLA

Feedback from the Event:

• “What an incredible moment it was to share.”
• “[I]t served to (re)connect colleagues and students in a way that served an even larger purpose.”
• “In many ways, this welcome honored the histories of advocacy and struggle that led to the creation of the ethnic and indigenous studies units at UCLA and gave a space to strengthen connections amongst these units today.”
• “[I]t serves the university, at large, to expose students to the great work being done campus-wide by units not usually highlighted. Moreover, these are efforts to respond both to a need and critique from students about the very few opportunities for collaboration amongst the ethnic and indigenous studies units.”
• “Based on how the welcome event went, we are positioned and excited for additional collaborations to come!”

Additional Sponsors: UCLA First Year Experience, Dean of UCLA Social Sciences, UCLA Institute of American Cultures, and the UCLA Asian American Studies Center

Date: November 28, 2016 Description: Professor William Worger (Professor, Department of History, UCLA) developed a program with Dr. Neo Lekgotla laga Ramoupi and Ms. Khabo Ramoupi as visiting speakers. Dr. Ramoupi gave a public talk, “Transformation in Universities in Post-1994 South Africa,” hosted by UCLA’s African Studies Center. Participation:

• 20 people attended the talk
• 6 students attended a related discussion at the Faculty Center

Feedback from the Event:

• “[This] demonstrates the ways in which such visitors are the product of many longstanding UCLA relationships and bring together such a wide range of fields/experiences/issues, and how [The Office of Equity, Diversity and Inclusion] plays a crucial role in making these dialogues possible.”
• “There will be intellectual followup with additional visitors from South Africa coming to UCLA to talk about issues of race, diversity and inclusion in South Africa and in this country. The next visitor scheduled is Professor Xolela Mangcu, Professor of Sociology at the University of Cape Town, currently a visiting fellow at the Du Bois Center at Harvard, and the author of biographies of Steve Biko and (in progress) Nelson Mandela.”

Date: September 22-24, 2016 Description: Professor Cheryl Harris (Rosalinde and Arthur Gilbert Professor in Civil Rights and Civil Liberties, UCLA School of Law) developed a proposal for a dual-event: 1) September 22, 2016, A panel discussion and reception at UCLA Law School with Professors Erika Wilson (University of North Carolina School of Law), Atiba Ellis (West Virginia University College of Law), Audrey McFarlane (University of Baltimore School of Law), Ian Haney-Lopez (UC Berkeley School of Law), and Professor Cheryl Harris (Moderator); and 2) September 23-24, 2016, A workshop with eight (8) sessions, each organized around different chapters of the book dealing with a particular area of substantive law (e.g., race and voting rights, employment discrimination, etc.) Participation:

• 70 UCLA students, faculty, and staff for the panel discussion
• 22 scholars for the workshops

Feedback from the Event:

• “The [panel discussion and reception] event prompted lively audience questions and discussion.”
• “[The] discussions were actually incredibly generative and thought-provoking commentary on a range of topics that were of tremendous interest to all involved.”
• “Indeed, several participants expressed the desire that we could convene again in a similar format as the quality of the intellectual engagement was exceptional.”
• “The event was consistent with the Critical Race Studies mission of intervening in and framing law and policy debates around racial inequality, and was marked as part of UCLA’s ongoing commitment to supporting this kind of work, utilizing the scholarly resources of the academy in the broader public interest.”