UCLA Faculty Agree to Institute a Required Course on Diversity
Filed in Diversity on April 28, 2015
In October 2014, the members of the faculty of the College and Letters and Science at the University of California, Los Angeles, narrowly approved a measure by a vote of 332-303 that called for every undergraduate student to complete a course that is focused on diversity. The proposal called for each undergraduate to complete a course that substantially addresses racial, ethnic, gender, socioeconomic, sexual orientation, religious, or other types of diversity. Students would be required to pass the course with a grade of C or better in order to fulfill the requirement.
But a group of faculty members, who were not in favor of the diversity requirement, filed a petition that mandated that the entire 3,600-member UCLA faculty vote on the measure, not just those faculty members from the College of Letters and Science. Opponents of the measure contended that about 60 percent of the total faculty opposed the diversity requirement.
But when the dust settled and the entire faculty was polled, the diversity requirement was passed overwhelmingly by a vote of 918 to 487.
Beginning this fall, all incoming first-year students in the College of Letters and Science will be required to pass a diversity-related course. There are about 100 courses that are currently taught at UCLA that would fulfill the diversity requirement.
