Student petitions to stop proposed 'Ethnic Studies' merger

After learning about a proposal to merge Latino Studies, Asian American Studies and First Nations Educational and Cultural Center into one Ethnic Studies department, sophomore Rachel Colegrove created a petition to resist the proposed merger.

Faculty and students in the Latino Studies program attended a meeting April 1 organized by Latino Studies Dean John Nieto-Phillips to foster discussion about the future of the program.

The meeting was prompted after Nieto-Phillips attended a College of Arts and Sciences meeting where the idea of joining the programs into Ethnic Studies was proposed.

“The intentions are quite good,” Nieto-Phillips said. “The intention is to raise visibility of ethnic scholarships and programs at IU. The question is, how do we do that? And a department of Ethnic Studies was brought up, but the consensus among faculty and students is clearly this is not the best way.”

But the idea of merging the Latino Studies, Asian American Studies and FNECC together under an Ethnic Studies Department angered Colegrove.

“It’s about saving money and consolidating,” Colegrove said. “It would be great to have these organizations collaborate, but it doesn’t mean we have to have an Ethnic Studies Department and take away their power.”

One of the problems Colegrove said she has with the proposed merger is melding the programs together under Ethnic Studies, because the proposed department is not well defined. She said she doesn’t understand the need or want to merge.

“It doesn’t make sense statistically to lump it under these other programs because of the popularity and desire there is to continue Latino Studies,” Colegrove said.

In fact, she said the interest Latino Studies has gained should merit that continuation.

“The sheer numbers of enrolled Latino Studies students shows it shouldn’t be demoted,” Colegrove said. “If it is to grow and mature it needs to be kept independent and autonomous and ideally given departmental status.”

Nieto-Phillips also said he sees growth and increased interest in Latino Studies, and the data suggests Latino Studies is strong enough to be independent at IU.

“Enrollments have gone up 55 percent in the past five years,” Nieto-Phillips said. “Most disciplines have gone down. Clearly students are interested in what we have to teach and the training we have to give.”

Colegrove also pointed out the many events the Latino Studies program offers for student networking and education.

“Junot Diaz was enormously successful and the Latino Film Festival happened all because of Latino Studies,” Colegrove said. “Latino Studies has its own voice on campus and resources as a program. If it has to share resources, you lose a lot of events.”

The merger that would produce Ethnic Studies would send a bad message to Latino students and others about how diversity is valued at IU, Colegrove said.

“It’s marginalization,” Colegrove said. “It’s taking a step backward in giving minorities voices. By putting them under Ethnic Studies we’re ‘othering’ them and shoving them into corners — sending a really bad message to Latino students.”

“Othering” describes the act of ostracizing an individual or group because they are different.

Larry Singell, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, confirmed in an email that there has been talk of a merger between the programs, but said nothing is set in stone.

“It is true that such a merger has been discussed both within the Dean’s office and with the units,” Singell said. “However, no decision has been made and no decision is even eminent. Such a decision would require significantly more discussion and
asking questions.”

Nieto-Phillips said he sees the current proposals as the beginning of a conversation of how Latino Studies fits into the College of Arts and Sciences and the new Global and International School.

“There is no plan right now for such a merger,” Nieto-Phillips said. “From my vantage point as director of Latino Studies, we’ve embarked on a conversation with faculty and students to gain a sense of what Latino Studies should become.”

He said he even sees the possibility of creating a Latino Studies department.

“Eventually, it’s not inconceivable that Latino Studies, like African Studies, gains departmental status,” Nieto-Phillips said. “The question is when, and it’s not something that can take place over night. The Latino population will continue to grow and additional pressure will be on the administration from students and public for more Latino oriented programs and commitment to diversity.”

During the conversation, Nieto-Phillips said he encourages students to express their feelings and opinions, reiterating he doesn’t want his role as director to overrule
student views.

After the meeting, Colegrove said she took Nieto-Phillips’ encouragements seriously. She started campaigning for Latino Studies’ independence last week.

“It’s important to have the undergraduate voice,” Colegrove said. “There’s only so much faculty can do because they’re getting paid by the University, but the students are paying. So the idea is that, hopefully, it will light more of a fire underneath
the administration.”

Currently, her petition has about 90 signatures online and about 40 handwritten ones, which Colegrove said she plans to send to President Michael McRobbie and Provost Lauren Robel. Students can sign the petition on change.org by searching her name.

“If people want to get in touch with me or Latino Studies professors, I can point them in the right direction,” Colegrove said. “More important than signing the petition, though, is writing comments and a statement as to why you support this cause.”
Colegrove said she hopes to get more than 500 students to sign, to send a strong message and secure Latino Studies as an independent program.

“In an ideal world, it would be nice to say that we’re all just one big human race, so let’s celebrate those similarities in an Ethnic Studies department,” Colegrove said. “But I don’t think we’re at that stage yet. We’re still not giving enough voice to minorities and I think the way this is going isn’t about ethnic studies. It’s about these other groups they don’t know what to do with.”