Same-Sex Partners in California Rally for Family (in Bay Area News) Broadband Technology: How fast is fast enough? (in Business) The Sweetest Taboo: Same-sex love in 16th-century Japan (in A&E) Emil Amok: A yellow silver screen (in Opinion)

Speak-out at Wellesley Sees Results

By Ji Hyun Lim

Dressed in black, a protest color, with yellow armbands to signify solidarity among and with Asian Americans, some 160 Wellesley University students gathered in front of Green Hall, the campus administrative building on Feb. 22. They were there to protest the college’s lack of commitment to multiculturalism, specifically, the denial of tenure of one of the only Asian American studies instructors, Elena Creef. Her rejection unleashed underlying discontent on key issues, such as the lack of a full-time Asian American cultural advisor and the insufficient hiring of Asian studies professors.

Wellesley Asian Action Movement (W.A.A.M.), a diverse coalition of students and organizations, staged the speak-out and a sit-in, chanting in unison “one, two, three, four, you say part-time, we want more,” while marching with megaphones to the administration building’s stone tower. There, the students displayed a long yellow banner before moving outside of the president’s and dean of student’s office, where they sat on the ground. Meanwhile, outside, protestors congregated for a speak-out.

Hien T. Nguyen, left, leads WAAM members in a demonstration outside of Green Hall. Photo by Elizabeth Minor, The Wellesley News.

Ironically, this elite women’s college, situated in Wellesley, Mass., was ranked by U.S. News & World Report as the most diverse college on the East Coast and the third most diverse in the nation. Furthermore, in 1997, A. Magazine rated Wellesley as the No.1 liberal arts college for Asian American students, based on the percentage of API students, academic rank, the percentage of Asian faculty and administrators, and the acceptance and retention rates for Asian Americans.

About a quarter of the school’s 2,300 students is Asian American. (Latinos and African Americans make up 7 percent each of the student body.) Students from 75 countries and all 50 states attend the college, and some 30 languages are spoken in the homes of students.

Though Wellesley offers an Asian American studies major, protestors said the denial of tenure to Creef, who taught most of the Asian American studies courses, would have a detrimental impact on the program. Currently, five Asian American studies courses are offered sporadically through the college’s interdisciplinary and interdepartmental program. Students who choose to major in Asian American studies must design and petition for the major.

Protestors were threatening to urge A. Magazine to reconsider its college ranking of Wellesley.

“Wellesley markets itself as a college that fosters multiculturalism,” student Katie Hayes said. “It’s shameful that it has been ignoring Asian and Asian American issues on campus for so long.”

Three hours after the protest began, however, the administration agreed to meet with five students — Neha Ummat, Marceille Allen, Lin Chan, April Chang and Hanna Jung — to negotiate their demands. Afterward, Wellesley Dean of Students Geneva Walker-Johnson agreed to increase the part-time Asian student advisor position from 15 hours per week to 17.5 hours, which would qualify the advisor for benefits.

“It’s certainly not a case where the administration doesn’t want an advisor for students of Asian descent,” said Wellesley’s Director of Public Information Mary Anne Hill.

According to Hill, the advisor position has always been part-time. The administration wants to require dual responsibilities for the position; for example, the job would entail advising students part-time in addition to working at the Center for Work and Service. The college is currently undergoing a review of the advising network. Before assigning another full-time position that, they said, may get cut, they are hesitant to make any other decisions.

The students did not accept any offers and will wait until March 1 to deliberate on an agreement. The protesters spent the rest of the night of Feb. 22 at Green Hall, but decided to re-group over the weekend to discuss future deliberations. They will meet for renegotiations with the administration this week. Spokesperson Lin Chan said that, because not all of the administrators have met their demands, “the students will have a vote to see if they’re going to charge ahead or fight for a full-time [advisor].”

In the midst of the controversy, Creef has chosen to remain uninvolved for fear of jeopardizing her appeal for tenure. She said, however, that she’s proud of the students for breaking stereotypes that Asian American women are quiet and passive, and that they are “working with other students of color and white students in their organizing.”

Added Hill: “It really has been a positive process. The issues the students raised are quite complex and touch on a number of areas in college life. It’s an important learning experience for the students to find their voice, express their own needs and do it in a productive way to effect positive change, and they’re really doing that.”