The Rise of Ethnic Studies at Columbia
by Jenny Montoya Tansey   

"Central to the intellectual mission of the Core is the goal of providing all students… with wide-ranging perspectives on significant ideas and achievements in literature, philosophy, history, art, music, and science… The skills and habits honed by the Core… provide a rigorous preparation for life as an intelligent citizen in today's complex and changing world."

- Columbia University Bulletin, 1999-2000

Since at least 1968, students at Columbia have been questioning whether their university's cherished Core Curriculum really delivers what it promises in terms of intellectual preparation for the diverse world they would encounter after graduation. The same year as Columbia's famous student protests, a study was initiated by students that led to an unsuccessful proposal for the establishment of a School of National Studies. According to a Moment article from April 12,1996, the proposal designed an institute that would focus on "the history, sociology, and interrelationships of the urban, African-American, and Puerto Rican experience."

Unfortunately, students would have to wait 25 years for Columbia to make any formal commitment to an Ethnic Studies program, when it established the Institute for Research in African American Studies in 1993.

Meanwhile, students interested in Latino and Asian American Studies were beginning to organize to get programs of their own. Those working for Asian American studies got started first, forming the Commitee on Asian American Studies in 1990.

Following the denial of tenure of a popular Latin American Studies professor, students formed the Commitee for Latin American Studies in 1995. For both graduate and undergraduate students, the tenure denial served to illustrate the lack of commitment of Columbia to the study of non-western traditions, and bring to the fore the need to reform the university in that respect. The Committee began to focus its efforts not only on strengthing the existing Latin American Studies and Spanish and Portuguese Departments, but on forming a new department for Latino Studies. Like the Committee on Asian American Studies, the Committee on Latin American Studies began submitting proposals to the administration.

In the fall of 1995, the two groups of students joined forces formally by creating the Ad Hoc Committee for Asian American and Latino Studies, designed to press for these programs. The coalition strengthened the voices of both constituencies, and allowed them to take a more structured and militant stand, speaking for a larger group of students. The coalition also served to intellectually link the issues being addressed -mainly, the historical absence of interest at Columbia in Ethnic Studies.

In the fall semester, the joint Committee sponsored a number of well attended teach-ins to educate a broader base of students about the status of Ethnic Studies at Columbia and on other campuses. By the time the spring semester rolled around, the Committee agreed that the time had come to place more direct pressure on the administration concerning Ethnic Studies.

On April 1st, Marcel Agueros CC'96, Michael Maldonado CC'96, Joaquin Ochoa TC, and Heather Starr BC'97 set up a tent on the lawn in front of Butler Library and began a hunger strike for Ethnic Studies. Although announced with a press release, the first and second days of the strike were quiet, with little publicity. On April 3rd, the administration announced that they would support a new American Studies program, offering concentrations in Latino and Asian American Studies, based primarily on preexisting courses. The Committee felt this commitment did not go far enough in terms of resource allocation and that an American Studies program could not replace Ethnic Studies, so the hunger strike continued. Over the first week, the Columbia community gradually learned of the strike. Rallies and vigils, with participants from community activist groups and other local colleges, were held almost everyday in support of the strikers. Unfortunately, Starr had to be hospitalized after five days, and dropped out of the hunger strike on doctor's orders. After the April 3rd offer, the administration remained silent, refusing to negotiate with student leaders.

Over 150 students took over Low Library on the evening of April 9. They occupied the building throughout the night, but the next morning were compelled to vacate, after the arrival of the New York Police Department. 22 students were arrested by the officers.

Despite this setback, on the evening of Thursday, April 11, protestors were at it again. This time, students entered Hamilton Hall, ceremoniously renaming it "Liberation Hall." By morning they had sealed off the entrances to the building and prepared to occupy it until the administration conceded to their demands. On Friday, President Rupp announced that he would meet with the so-called "Ethnic Studies Six," a group of six student leaders in the movement. Despite negotiations throughout the weekend, the students and the university had not reached an agreement on Monday morning, and classes had to be moved to other buildings on campus. Those occupying Hamilton held classes of their own, on the importance of Ethnic Studies and on the history of activism at Columbia. The large scale protests of the first two weeks of April, peaking with the "liberation" of Hamilton Hall, significantly disrupted academic and administrative activities, bringing the Ethnic Studies movement to the forefront of all students minds.

On Monday afternoon, student negotiators brought a proposed agreement back to Hamilton. At 6:50 pm, over 100 students vacated Hamilton two by two, chanting "It's not over." They had approved an agreement with the administration with an affirmative vote from 95 students.