A number of student groups voiced their opinions at an ethnic-studies discussion Sunday.
Participants included students from the Multicultural Student Center, Asian and Pacific American Council, Associated Students of Madison, Asian and Pacific American Council and Union Puertorriquena.
One of the main focuses of the discussion was the development of a Comparative American Studies Department, which would give existing programs department status and help create new programs for studies in Puerto Rican, Latino, Arab-American and LGBT programs.
Henry Ton, an APAC representative, spoke about the need for this department.
“At UW-Madison we speak of social injustice and how we must work towards increasing diversity,” Ton said.
“The idea of a Comparative American Studies Department is to realize the capacity of our awareness of others,” said Ton. “If we have tirelessly campaigned towards an increase in diversity of faculty and students, improving our campus climate, and adding [to] the quality of our degrees, then isn’t the creation of a Comparative American Studies Department the next step?”
Jason Davis, from Associated Students of Madison, discussed Plan 2008 and diversity at UW. He urged students to get involved in any effort to diversify the campus.
“We are producing students who are unfit to participate in the global community because of their lack of understanding of different cultures,” Davis said.
James Murphy Aguilu, a board member at Union Puertorriquena, noted that the number of Puerto Rican faculty, staff and students has been steadily declining over the past four years and believes UW needs to implement two changes. First, he says the university needs to recruit Puerto Rican students and staff from Milwaukee, Chicago and Madison. Second, he believes a Puerto Rican Studies Program should be started.
The discussion featured Francis Aparicio, director of the Latino Studies Program at the University of Illinois-Chicago, who spoke about the importance of establishing a Latino Studies program.
“This program, like other ethnic studies, infuses the humanities and the social sciences with new theoretical paradigms and new methodologies,” Aparicio said.
“It is crucial that higher administration support these fields that have been so fragile and vulnerable to attacks from inside and outside academia. I exhort the community at UW-Madison to invest in the future of this country, by supporting a Latino Studies Program. Otherwise, history will slap us in the face.”