According to this Daily Bruin (UCLA) article, the sit-in seems to have been directed at a soft target that would not kick back rather than at the legit grievances the grad students may have had. The protesters come off as whiny "community activists" in training.
Students defend professor after sit-in over racial climate
November 20, 2013
By Sam Hoff
Current and former students in the Graduate School of Education & Information Studies expressed their support for professor emeritus Val Rust following a demonstration in one of his graduate classes last Thursday.
Student demonstrators alleged that there is a “toxic” racial climate in the graduate school, including in Rust’s classroom...
After Thursday’s sit-in, several current and former students said they did not believe there was a problem with racial discrimination in Rust’s class.
In a letter sent to colleagues in the department after the sit-in, Rust said students in the demonstration described grammar and spelling corrections he made on their dissertation proposals as a form of "micro-aggression."
"I have attempted to be rather thorough on the papers and am particularly concerned that they do a good job with their bibliographies and citations, and these students apparently don't feel that is appropriate," Rust said in the letter.
He said the protesters were also responding to a conversation in class between two students about critical race theory that he allowed to take place by not stopping the discussion.
Rust added he thought the department should organize a town hall meeting later in the month to begin a dialogue.]
“Many of (the demonstrators’
individual stories were very touching and I feel something ought to be done to address their concerns,” he said in the letter...
Nora Cisneros, a graduate student who participated in the sit-in, said the group chose to hold their protest because they feel Rust’s class does not encourage a climate where students of color can discuss issues of race openly.
Emily Le, a graduate student in the school who has known Rust for about 10 years, said she thought it was unjust for sit-in participants to accuse Rust of being part of a hostile environment because he is a supporter of intercultural learning and collaboration.
“It is disturbing that students would make such unfounded accusations based on misperceptions of what they believe as racism,” Le said.
Some students said they thought Thursday’s protest was focused more on humiliating a single professor than starting dialogue.
“I think the most unsettling thing was that it was in the name of a larger, legitimate cause, but it was so targeted at very specific people,” said Stephanie Kim, a graduate student who has worked with Rust for several years.
“Maybe (the demonstrators) do have legitimate grievances … but the way they chose to address their issues was by very aggressively showing up in one targeted professor’s class and using him as a scapegoat for much larger issues,” she said.
Cisneros and Watson said they thought the sit-in was warranted because of similar alleged incidents of racial discrimination over the past 20 years.
In an emailed statement, Weiling Deng, a graduate student who worked with Rust on her master’s thesis, said she does not want conflicts to begin in the graduate school as a result of the sit-in.
Deng said Rust has demonstrated support for students of color throughout his time as a professor.
“I felt after reading the (Daily Bruin story) and knowing about the protest … that I was so innocent in thinking that all students in the department are friendly,” Deng said in a telephone interview. “Not only I was shocked, all students of (Rust) were shocked and most of his colleagues were shocked.”
Students defend professor after sit-in over racial climate
November 20, 2013
By Sam Hoff
Current and former students in the Graduate School of Education & Information Studies expressed their support for professor emeritus Val Rust following a demonstration in one of his graduate classes last Thursday.
Student demonstrators alleged that there is a “toxic” racial climate in the graduate school, including in Rust’s classroom...
After Thursday’s sit-in, several current and former students said they did not believe there was a problem with racial discrimination in Rust’s class.
In a letter sent to colleagues in the department after the sit-in, Rust said students in the demonstration described grammar and spelling corrections he made on their dissertation proposals as a form of "micro-aggression."
"I have attempted to be rather thorough on the papers and am particularly concerned that they do a good job with their bibliographies and citations, and these students apparently don't feel that is appropriate," Rust said in the letter.
He said the protesters were also responding to a conversation in class between two students about critical race theory that he allowed to take place by not stopping the discussion.
Rust added he thought the department should organize a town hall meeting later in the month to begin a dialogue.]
“Many of (the demonstrators’
individual stories were very touching and I feel something ought to be done to address their concerns,” he said in the letter...Nora Cisneros, a graduate student who participated in the sit-in, said the group chose to hold their protest because they feel Rust’s class does not encourage a climate where students of color can discuss issues of race openly.
Emily Le, a graduate student in the school who has known Rust for about 10 years, said she thought it was unjust for sit-in participants to accuse Rust of being part of a hostile environment because he is a supporter of intercultural learning and collaboration.
“It is disturbing that students would make such unfounded accusations based on misperceptions of what they believe as racism,” Le said.
Some students said they thought Thursday’s protest was focused more on humiliating a single professor than starting dialogue.
“I think the most unsettling thing was that it was in the name of a larger, legitimate cause, but it was so targeted at very specific people,” said Stephanie Kim, a graduate student who has worked with Rust for several years.
“Maybe (the demonstrators) do have legitimate grievances … but the way they chose to address their issues was by very aggressively showing up in one targeted professor’s class and using him as a scapegoat for much larger issues,” she said.
Cisneros and Watson said they thought the sit-in was warranted because of similar alleged incidents of racial discrimination over the past 20 years.
In an emailed statement, Weiling Deng, a graduate student who worked with Rust on her master’s thesis, said she does not want conflicts to begin in the graduate school as a result of the sit-in.
Deng said Rust has demonstrated support for students of color throughout his time as a professor.
“I felt after reading the (Daily Bruin story) and knowing about the protest … that I was so innocent in thinking that all students in the department are friendly,” Deng said in a telephone interview. “Not only I was shocked, all students of (Rust) were shocked and most of his colleagues were shocked.”
