More than five decades ago, Morgan Chu was taught a version of American history that virtually ignored the experiences of Asian Americans like him.
Chu, a lawyer who grew up in New York and moved to Los Angeles to attend UCLA, never knew that the U.S. government banned Chinese from immigrating to the United States in the 19th century and imprisoned tens of thousands of U.S. citizens of Japanese descent. without authorization. charges during World War II.
He was not taught about early 20th-century state laws that prevented Asians from owning land or, even earlier, from marrying people outside their race. None of his classes also acknowledged the contributions Asian Americans have made to shaping the nation, beyond a scant mention of the Chinese workers who helped build the transcontinental railroad.
But in 1969, Chu and his wife, Helen, then a fellow Bruin, helped push UCLA to create some of the country's first ethnic studies programs, after joining dozens of other students at protests, rallies and meetings.
Now, 55 years later, the Chus are doubling down on their commitment with a $10 million gift to create endowed chairs for Asian American, African American, Chicano and American Indian Studies Centers located at the UCLA Institute of American Cultures. The gift, announced Monday, will also fund research and programming projects across the institute, cementing UCLA's role as a national leader in this academic field.
Morgan and Helen Chu.
(UCLA Center for Asian American Studies)
The support for ethnic studies comes at a tense political moment as attacks against the field intensify, including efforts by some school districts in California and conservative states like Texas and Florida to control how race and racism are taught in the schools. The attacks have focused on “critical race theory,” a university-level academic framework that seeks to examine how racial inequality and racism are historically embedded in American legal systems, policies and institutions. Some have presented ethnic theory and studies as an effort to portray whites as racist oppressors.
California is the first state in the country to require an ethnic studies class for high school graduation under legislation enacted in 2021. The California Community College and California State University systems also require students to take a course of ethnic studies to earn an associate degree and a bachelor's degree. , respectively.
The University of California has been engaged in a lengthy review process since 2020 over whether ethnic studies should be required for admission and what course content should include. UC requires all undergraduates to complete an “American Histories and Institutions” course, which may be ethnic studies, economics, history, political science, or related disciplines.
Some critics have urged UC to reject any ethnic studies admissions requirement, in part because they fear how Israel will be discussed in such courses, particularly if criticisms of colonization and imperialism against marginalized communities include the plight of the Palestinians.
The Chus emphasize that their donation, the largest ever received by the institute, was not motivated by the politics of the moment. Morgan Chu said the couple wants to support and sustain a field of studies that he likens to a “rainbow with contrasting colors and different points of view” that can help deepen understanding and bridge divisions between people.
“It's just a way to teach everyone about the rich history and background of all cultures,” said Chu, who became a prominent trial lawyer after earning three degrees, including a doctorate from UCLA, a master's degree in Yale and a law degree. at Harvard. Helen Chu enjoyed a long career as a public school teacher after graduating from UCLA.
UCLA Chancellor Gene Block said the donation will help the campus advance its studies and teaching in the field.
“UCLA has long been at the forefront of examining the histories, cultures, contributions and experiences of different racial and ethnic groups in the United States,” he said in a statement. “The investment of the Chus will allow us to deepen the impact of this essential work.”
Shannon Speed, director of the UCLA Center for American Indian Studies, called Chu's gift a “game changer” that would ensure the survival of ethnic studies in a time of fiscal challenges in higher education and political attacks on the field.
The donation is particularly powerful because it supports the institute's four ethnic studies centers, said Celia Lacayo, deputy director of the Chicano Studies Research Center.
Morgan Chu, center, joins the Campbell Hall Coalition march in support of the formation of the UCLA Ethnic Studies Centers on August 8, 1969.
(UCLA Photo)
The funds will go to professorships for directors of African American, Chicano and American Indian studies centers. The Chus also plan to fund an academic chair for a faculty member at the Center for Asian American Studies. His previous gifts have funded professorships for a director of that center and a professor of Asian American studies, along with a scholarship fund.
Those four groups have formed the core of ethnic studies since the academic field's inception in the late 1960s, when the Black Student Union and a coalition of student groups at San Francisco State University, known as the Front of Third World Liberation, began a five-month strike. demanding an inclusive curriculum, equal educational access, and more teachers of color.
Lacayo noted that the 1960s struggles for civil rights and ethnic studies attracted people of all backgrounds who believed in social justice and racial equity, and the donation to the four centers reflects that legacy. “These four groups fight [for] racial equity, but we also fight together,” he said. “That union is very critical.”
Chu recalled the power of unity during his own student activism. “We came together in 1969 to move forward and it was a wonderful and beautiful thing. And now that we have been able to support all the centers, we wanted to do it because of the common problems that we shared 50 years ago and that we will probably share in the future.”
The UCLA institute and its centers opened just months after San Francisco State established the country's first College of Ethnic Studies following the 1968-69 strike.
The Chus joined many other students who made similar demands at UCLA. But Morgan Chu's chance encounter with a key UCLA official at a poker game would help the cause tremendously. The official was David Saxon, then UCLA's second-in-command as executive vice chancellor for academic affairs who would become UC president in 1975.
Chu said Saxon initially resisted the demand for separate ethnic studies programs, questioning why the material couldn't be integrated into existing history, sociology and other courses. But he eventually came on board and, Chu said, helped sell the idea to other campus leaders.
Today, faculty affiliated with the centers have grown from a handful in 1969 to approximately 250 across campus dedicated to law, education, public health, the arts, and other disciplines. The institute and centers have awarded about $7 million in research grants and fellowships, produced more than 3,000 publications, and boast some of the best ethnic studies libraries and archives in the country, including Chicano film and music and the collection of the Japanese American Research Project with rare oral histories of early immigrants, said David Yoo, vice chancellor of the institute.
The centers also actively participate in civic work through wide-ranging community partnerships with social service agencies, museums, historical societies, and others.
They are working collectively on some issues, including a project on mass incarceration and a proposed curriculum for ethnic studies courses that are legally required to begin in the 2025-26 school year.
The centers also carry out their own community-focused work. The Center for Asian American Studies, for example, publishes two major academic journals, has produced some 50 books and reports, and has led research on topics such as the hidden face of Asian American homelessness and anti-Asian hate crimes.
“Many of our stories have been erased, marginalized or maligned, giving rise to stereotypes that allow so much hate and propaganda to disappear,” said Karen Umemoto, director of the Center for Asian American Studies. “The entire origin of ethnic studies has been a project to allow our voices to be heard… so that we can do thoughtful research and tell the stories of our experiences and histories for the world to know.”
The Chicano center's projects include a student-led summer voter registration drive and a state-funded effort to research and promote equity for Latinas in careers, civic leadership and health.
The Ralph J. Bunche Center for African American Studies supports research on mass incarceration, reparations for descendants of enslaved people, and also funds a fellowship program for students to work with faculty to study the living conditions of the blacks.
The Center for American Indian Studies is leading several research projects, including indigenous perspectives on water issues, such as the diversion of snowmelt and groundwater from Northern Paiute tribal lands, known as the Owens Valley, to Los Angeles. . The center is also helping to build a path to college for Native American high school students with outreach and assistance. UCLA plans to double the number of Native American and Pacific Islander faculty in the coming years.
For their part, the Chus said the impetus behind their long-standing support of ethnic studies is “pretty simple.”
“We thought that teaching more about everyone in a very inclusive way would improve the overall educational experience for everyone,” Morgan Chu said. “Whether it's today, 50 years ago or 50 years in the future, we will have a better world, a better society, if people understand each other.”
