Discussion on understanding and value of Chicana, Chicano and Black Studies

By Dr. César López, Ph.D.

The San Diego Mesa College Chicana/o Studies Department and the Black Studies Department are hosting a panel discussion on student equity and diversity on campus this Friday, March 14, from 9AM-12PM in room H-117/118.  The event is entitled “Honoring Academic Legacies of Diversity at San Diego Mesa College and Beyond: Equity and Valuing Critical Contributions of Chicana/o Studies and Black Studies Departments.”  The campus community and the general public is invited to attend this important discussion.

The goal of the panel is to recognize the over 40 year histories of each of these departments on the San Diego Mesa College campus; educate the campus and community about issues related to understanding and valuing the critical contributions of Chicana/o Studies and Black Studies Departments in Higher Education; and highlight local, state and national legislative educational policies that have and will impact the future success of all students, with a focus on students of color and first generation students.

“This event allows us to engage in a dialogue which, when seen in the context of statewide and national efforts, is vital and urgent,” says Manuel J. Vélez, Associate Professor of Chicana/0 Studies at Mesa College. “The economic crisis that gutted funding to community colleges here in California these past years has revealed long dormant but serious misunderstandings and misperceptions of the importance of Chicana/o and Black Studies as fields of study and their contribution to national discourse. Now that we have put this economic crisis behind us, it’s essential that academic administrations are aware of and supportive of these contributions. This event is a way to address that.”

Confirmed panelists include Assemblymember Shirley N. Weber, Ph.D.; Alexandro José Gradilla, Ph.D., Associate Professor and Dual Chair of Chicana and Chicano Studies and African American Studies at California State University, Fullerton; Beatriz Tapia, M.A., Associate Professor of Chicana and Chicano Studies at East Los Angeles College; Valerie Cuevas, M.S., Director of External Relations, The Education Trust–West; and Starla Lewis, Professor of Black Studies at San Diego Mesa College.

For more information please contact César López at celopez@sdccd.edu.

Dr. César López is a Professor and Chair of the Chicana and Chicano Studies Department at San Diego Mesa College.