an act of frustration

So I know we have just finished reading A Gesture Life, and I normally would write about my thoughts on the novel, but I feel like there are more important things happening on our campus concerning the Asian American community and all communities of color. Like it was said in the presentation today, I feel like A Gesture Life pointed to the fact that we cannot just live our life in gestures, that there is more to our everyday occurrences than politeness and propriety. We as human beings must do what we want and need to do rather than what we should do and what is expected of us. We cannot merely stand back and allow the most important things in life pass us by. In light of this, I just need to express my feelings and inform whoever reads this about what has been going on in my life, in my community, and on this campus.

Last Monday, I went to a meeting for the bridges coalition, a coalition of the multicultural recruitment and retention centers on campus. It was between the students and the chancellor Birgeneau. It was supposed to discuss what’s going on with the Multicultural Center. And yet … the Chancellor refused to talk about it. After a few questions regarding the topic, he firmly stated that he did not want to talk about it, that he would not talk about it. He said that we weren’t going to talk about it anymore because he wanted to move on to other topics. I could feel the tension start building in the room, and within myself. How could he–someone who was invited to our meeting–tell us what we were to talk about? Several students attempted to voice their frustration and the reasons why they wanted to discuss the topic, but this only angered the chancellor. He threatened to leave the meeting, stating that the women’s basketball game was starting at 730, as if the needs of our community were less important than an athletic game. When another comment was made about the Multicultural Center, the chancellor got out of his seat and almost walked out of Heller, as a student was talking. He said that he wanted to talk instead about undocumented students, those who are often neglected and overlooked. Yet, the students sitting in that room are neglected and overlooked. And his attempt to walk out demonstrated just that. He said that “respect is a two way street” but he refused to listen to the voice of the students, a voice he claims is valuable and significant to the university. Eventually, he sat back down, and the conversation turned to what the chancellor wanted to talk about. He discussed undocumented students and the need to overturn prop 209. But the manner in which he spoke of these issues was if the people in that room did not understand the magnitude of it all. As if they had not been working countless hours, days, weeks, months, years, toward these goals. He was preaching to a crowd that already knew what he was talking about and more. Simply put, I felt like the entire meeting was basically bullshit. And that the chancellor needs to realize that this is the students’ university, not his, despite his many claims at working for us. I do not discredit any of the work that he has done to improve the university, but his handling of the situation has almost negated everything in my mind of what he has done.

If I can relate this to the novel in any way, I can say that the chancellor’s meeting with the coalition was a mere gesture. He did not seem to want to be there nor care to hear what the students had to say. His presence (or lack thereof) was more insulting than if he had never met with us at all.