Music, Dance faculty take part in student-strike anniversary

Several faculty members from the School of Music and Dance are taking part in SF State's 40th-anniversary commemoration of the student-led strike that established the nation's only College of Ethnic Studies and the first Educational Opportunity Program. The commemoration takes place Oct. 29 – Nov. 1 on campus.

"Consciousness, Community, Liberation: Fulfilling the Promise of '68" includes an academic conference, panel discussions and cultural events that focus on civil rights; social justice; legal, political and economic equity; student leadership and activism; and equal access to public education. At 9:35 a.m. Oct. 30, Dance faculty members Albirda Rose, Alicia Pierce and other colleagues will gather in the August Coppola Theatre (Fine Arts Building) for a presentation and discussion on "Heritage," a 1980s campus arts event. At 1 p.m. Oct. 31 in the Student Center's Rosa Parks Room B, Music faculty members Hafez Modirzadeh, John Calloway, alumnus John-Carlos Perea, saxophonist Francis Wong and Ethnic Studies faculty members will discuss their recent "Sound Come-Unity" concert that celebrated the strike.

Sponsored by the University's College of Ethnic Studies, Educational Opportunity Program, Associated Students Performing Arts and International Center for the Arts, the commemoration concludes Nov. 1 with a free jazz concert on Malcolm X Plaza featuring the SF State Afro-Cuban Ensemble, alumnus John Handy and Bobby Hutcherson.

On Nov. 6, 1968, some students and faculty walked out of classes to achieve enrollment equity in public higher education, the hiring of more senior faculty of color and new curricula that would embrace the history and culture of all people including ethnic minorities. The strike ended March 20, 1969, after months of protests and unrest on campus. Afterward, hundreds of higher education institutions nationwide followed SF State's efforts to diversify higher education. According to the Education Resource Information Center, 439 colleges in the country offered a total of 8,805 ethnic studies courses by 1978.

For full details on events related to the strike anniversary's commemoration, visit the College of Ethnic Studies Web site.