University of California, Irvine’s contributions to Project STAND are representative of the extensive history of student activism that has paved way for socio-political change since the beginnings of the university’s history. The earliest materials, photographs from a 1967 Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) demonstration on campus, reflect the strong anti-war sentiment with students during the Vietnam War era. These photographs form part of the University’s official Communications Photographs, Staff Photographer series and document a number of events including other marches and demonstrations, moratoriums, and a visit from Angela Davis in 1969.

Other collections that have been contributed to Project STAND document a broad range of issues important to students including women’s rights, LGBTQIA+, Latinx, and Black student body experience.

Featured Collection

Collection: Cross Cultural Center records

Dates: 1972-present

Description: The Cross Cultural Center (CCC) records compass personal, social, cultural, and academic well-being of UCI’s ethnic and culturally diverse student body. The Cross Cultural Center coordinates the activities of all student organizations pertaining to particular racial, ethnic, and minority groups. The collection includes administrative files; records of associated student organizations, committees, and boards; and documentation of events and multicultural organizations on campus for students, faculty, and staff.

The CCC has been a center of activism on campus since its inception in 1974. In the spring of 1991 concerned student organizations within the CCC established the Ethnic Students Coalition Against Prejudicial Education (ESCAPE), which campaigned for ethnic studies programs at UCI. Many student organizations were unified in this effort and sponsored several major rallies to generate campus support.

In April 1993, a student protest occurred over the absence of an Asian American Studies Program and the need for more administrative support for CCC. Over 200 students lead a 35-day hunger strike and rallied outside Aldrich Hall, the campus administration building and marched inside. This protest received considerable media attention and galvanized the local Asian American community. Video footage contains news coverage, footage of the rally, protest and march, and student interviews. These efforts led to the creation of a Department of Asian American Studies.

In 2017, the Beginnings of Activism for the Department of Asian American Studies (BADAAS) effort led by Dr. Judy Wu, Dr. Thuy Vo Dang, and a group of undergraduate AAS researchers created an archival collection that investigates the activist history behind the creation of the Department of Asian American Studies.

Five student umbrella organizations are recognized by the CCC: Black Student Union (BSU), Alyansa ng mga Kababayan (Pilipino), American Indian Student Association (AISA), Asian Pacific Student Association (APSA), and Movimiento Estudiantil Chicano de Aztlan (MEChA). More than 50 individual organizations exist under these five umbrella organizations.

URL:

https://oac.cdlib.org/findaid/ark:/13030/kt967nd67n/

https://special.lib.uci.edu/blog/2017/07/beginnings-activism-department-asian-american-studies-uci

Contacts:

Audra Eagle Yun: Head of Special Collections and Archives

Elvia Arroyo-Ramirez: Assistant University Archivist