Trustees of California State University voted on Wednesday to make ethnic and social justice studies a graduation requirement.
The change would occur in three years and would be the first change to the school’s general education curriculum in over 40 years. It comes amid a national reckoning over racism and police brutality.
Meanwhile, the state Legislature is on the verge of passing a bill to require ethnic studies, a more narrowly focused proposal that wouldn’t count social justice classes. If signed by the governor, it would overrule the school’s action, a scenario denounced by school leaders as an intrusion into academia.
The plan approved by California State University’s trustees allows students to choose from a wider range of ethnic studies classes to fulfill the course requirement than the Legislature’s bill. The trustees would allow students to take courses on social justice that explore issues such as the criminal justice system and public health disparities.
