Over 50 years ago, students went on strike at UC Berkeley demanding formal research and teaching of Asian American, Black, Chicano and Native American experiences; they also called for more representation among campus’ faculty and staff. And they prevailed. After 37 contentious days of strikes, the university created the Department of Ethnic Studies, one of the nation’s first.
Half a century later, the campus has kept up that spirit by investing millions of dollars in these areas of study to meet student demand, even in times of mounting budget pressure. By this spring, Berkeley will have welcomed six new professors specializing in Asian American and Pacific Islands studies, including one of Berkeley’s first Pacific Islander faculty members. It’s the culmination of more than a decade of advocacy and required remarkable coordination across departments, schools and colleges.
Hiring an interdisciplinary group of academics to bolster an area of study is a relatively new practice known as a “cluster hire.” Some previous clusters have recruited scholars focused on the ethics of artificial intelligence and environmental equity. The new Asian American and Pacific Islander Transpacific Futures cluster will bring experts in ethnic studies, geography, education, public health and environmental sciences to several different Berkeley schools and colleges.
Long Le-Khac, an assistant professor of ethnic studies and the first member of the cluster, put the rationale behind the cohort’s hiring plainly: “Forty percent of the undergraduate student body at Berkeley is Asian American. We [had] maybe 10 scholars across campus who are specifically trained in Asian American studies and can offer those classes. That’s ridiculous. The need for Pacific Islander studies was even more stark.”