RESOLUTION AFFIRMING THE VALUES OF SAN FRANCISCO STATE UNIVERSITY

RSO1-181

At its meeting of April 24, 2001, the Academic Senate unanimously approved the following resolution on

Affirming the Values of San Francisco State University:

Whereas The Academic Mission and Goals for San Francisco State University begins with the statement that the university is dedicated to creating and maintaining "an environment for learning that promotes respect for and appreciation of scholarship, freedom, human diversity, and the cultural mosaic of the City of San Francisco and the Bay Area," and

Whereas That statement of purpose also speaks of "attracting, retaining, and graduating a highly diverse student body" and of "providing curricula that reflect all dimensions of human diversity, and that encourage critical thinking and social and cultural awareness," and

Whereas The invocation of cultural or racial stereotypes is inimical to the spirit and language of that statement, and

Whereas The recent "spy plane episode" has encouraged some people, including individuals on university campuses (though not at San Francisco State University), to invoke cultural, racial, or ethnic stereotypes directed both at China and at Asian Americans, and

Whereas Some of that reaction invokes shameful memories of a century or more of anti-Asian actions including but not limited to the Exclusion Act of 1882 and its successor exclusion acts, the Alien Land Laws of 1913 and 1920, the Immigration Act of 1924; the segregation of Chinese-American children in the San Francisco public schools; and the relocation of

Japanese-Americans during World War II, and

Whereas Hate crimes based on race, religion, sexual orientation, culture of origin, native language, or manifest "difference" from a hypothesized norm in the United States demonstrates the profound need for reaffirming the language and spirit of the Academic Mission and Goals for San Francisco State University, therefore be it

Resolved That the Academic Senate of San Francisco State University condemn the recent expressions of cultural or racial hostility heard and seen in the media, and further be it

Resolved That the Academic Senate of San Francisco State University applaud those articles and editorials in the media that have condemned these expressions, and further be it

Resolved That the Academic Senate of San Francisco State University reaffirm its commitment to the words and spirit of the Academic Mission and Goals for San Francisco State University and encourage all members of the academic community to take similar action, and further be it

Resolved That copies of this resolution, along with the Academic Mission and Goals for San Francisco State University, be forwarded to the Academic Senate of the California State University, Chancellor Charles B. Reed, the Board of Trustees of the CSU, Governor Gray Davis, Assembly Speaker Robert M. Hertsberg, and the editors of the San Francisco State University Golden Gate [X]Press, San Francisco Chronicle and the San Francisco Examiner.



**APPROVED UNANIMOUSLY APRIL 24, 2001**