As the Mexican American and Latina/o Studies (MALS) department at UT Austin is set to disappear, scholars from all over the country attended the national Latina/x/o Studies Association (LSA) meeting on campus this week. Researchers held a rally on Thursday outside the conference to protest changes at the College of Liberal Arts.
"This place is one of the places that is the origin points of our profession," said David Vazquez, a professor at American University in Washington, D.C., and the president of LSA. "We need to be here to protect this place."
In February, UT President Jim Davis announced seven departments, including ethnic and gender studies departments, would be consolidated into two newly created departments and said academic courses would be reviewed.
Since the announcement, UT officials have not shared any further details with the community about the consolidation. But Karma Chávez, a professor in the MALS department, says faculty have been tasked with reviewing the current majors and proposing what majors will be offered in the future.
Suhey Vega, a professor at Arizona State University, where a similar consolidation happened in 2008, says eliminating the autonomy of areas of study comes with long-lasting consequences.
"It's important to realize that in joining these communities together, especially by force, you're creating a system in which they have to fight, sometimes with each other, for funding, and that is ridiculous and unfair," Vega said.
Vega, who grew up in Texas, said it was important for her to attend the conference to demand that Tejano history is known in the state.
Vazquez, the LSA president, said the conference was held at UT Austin to honor the history and significance its programs have had for Latino studies, and to express solidarity with faculty and students. He said over 600 academics registered for the conference, and over 700 research proposals were submitted, making it one of the biggest Latino studies conferences in the country.
Latino studies at UT began in the 1970s with the creation of the Center for Mexican American Studies. It was born out of community pressure to have a program that reflected Latina/o/x and Chicana/o/x experiences.
Since then it's been the academic home of internationally renowned scholars, like one of the first border researchers, Américo Paredes, and Chicana feminist Gloria Anzaldúa. MALS was created in 2014 and is now the only department in Texas and one of a few in the country to offer a Ph.D. in Latino studies.
When the consolidation was announced, Davis said UT is committed to ensuring every student has access to a balanced educational experience.
Julie Minich, a professor in UT's English department, said faculty have tried engaging with university officials to show that the work at MALS comes from a diverse point of view, but have not received a positive response.
"Efforts to justify this have been minimal because there are no justifications," Minich said. "Eliminating our departments and telling their students that their presence at this university is not wanted tells the 40% of Latino population of the state of Texas that the public flagship [university] is not for them."
KUT News reached out to UT Austin for comment and has not heard back.
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