The California State Assembly Committee on Higher Education and the Assembly Budget Subcommittee No. 2 on Education Finance selected San Jose State University as its location for a public hearing on faculty diversity on Oct. 6. The campus hosted Assemblymembers Jose Medina, chair of the committee, Shirley Weber and Kevin McCarty, as well as several guest speakers who discussed the importance of faculty diversity in all public higher education systems – California Community Colleges, the California State University, and the University of California.

Medina, whose father attended SJSU and earned a civil engineering degree in the 1960s, recalled the university’s connection to social justice as he opened the hearing. He highlighted alumni Tommie Smith and John Carlos’ brave action at the 1968 Olympics, Louis Valdez’s founding of Chicano theater and Amy Tan’s narratives on immigrants in America.

“I know the history of this university and what it means as the oldest higher education public university in California,” he said. “I know what role it played in history, especially as it pertains to civil rights.”

Weber, who earned three degrees at UCLA, said her journey was “lonely and isolated” as an African American student at a time when the student body was not as diverse as it is today. When she became a professor at the university, she was one of the only faculty members of color on the campus.

“I hope we can move it a little further than we have in the past and understand what it means to have a campus reflective of California,” she said.

SJSU President Mary Papazian welcomed the assemblymembers to campus and thanked them for hosting a conversation around the important topic of faculty diversity.

“We need to address challenges in ensuring the retention of faculty, not only in developing the pipeline or ensuring the search process that reduces the inherent bias,” Papazian said. “Our Chief Diversity Officer Kathy Wong(Lau) will be working together with a team of people to really review what we are doing and why we haven’t been successful.”

While student populations have become more ethnically diverse at public universities, the faculty populations have not shifted. In fall 2015, 27 percent of students enrolled at CSU campuses identified as white, while 63 percent of faculty identified as such. There were similar disparities at community colleges and UC campuses. View the full hearing background document online.