Giving Back the UCSC Chancellor’s Achievement Award for Diversity: The MINT program

The Chancellor’s Achievement Award for Diversity returned to Kerr Hall.

Chancellor Larive & EVC Kletzer,

The MINT program was awarded the Chancellor’s Achievement Award for Diversity in 2018. This program could not have functioned without the unpaid labor of graduate student women at UCSC, mostly women of Color, who serve in a mentorship role in the program, and the exploitation of the graduate student coordinators (both women of Color) who are underpaid, even more than TAships. A strong case in point, at the time of receiving the award, the graduate student coordinator was being paid $1400 a month after taxes for a full 20 hour work week, and was forced to take on additional jobs in other quarters (TAing and sex work) to make ends meet. Her rent is $1600 dollars per month for a studio apartment that is not fully sealed (large cracks exposed to the outside- the bathroom is essentially a shack that was attached to the studio apartment in post), cold, always growing mold to which she is very allergic to.

The Chancellor’s Achievement Awards for Diversity recipients are the darlings of the university, we are the alibis that the university relies on to prove that it is doing diversity work and is no longer racist. It is important to emphasize that “diversity” here means bringing bodies to the university that have been racialized and marked as “Other,” and that this understanding of diversity is not accompanied by social justice values. In other words, you want to brag on your website about how this is a diverse institution and put a picture of a group of students hanging out together with every flavor of the rainbow in tokenized fashion, but you do not want to provide the resources and opportunities for historically marginalized students to succeed academically and be well emotionally, physically, and spiritually. No, instead you depend on people who have these social justice values, your diversity award recipients and many others who go unrecognized, to do it for you, for free or at a very low-cost to you. I recommend that you take one of the strongly fought for ethnic studies classes at UCSC for you to learn the racism in your approach. Think: where do these legacies of “free” and cheap labor come from? Where have we seen it in U.S. history? Who tends to perform free or cheap labor? Diversity without social justice is murder, and at the very least, a contemporary form of segregation. Who cares if your institution is diverse if only the whitest and richest can survive it?

The University readily capitalizes on diversity but does not provide the tools for diversity to thrive.

In addition, the people who are being ignored in this COLA movement, grad students of Color and faculty accomplices, are some of the brightest minds on these issues. Graduate students are educators and experts in their fields, we are living, breathing, and teaching these topics, but for reasons that reflect oversimplified thinking our analysis and approach is being dismissed. You are ignoring and belittling experts on racial capitalism, diversity, settler colonialism, and social justice issues. The two new programs being offered (i.e. housing supplement) is not what graduate students demanded; it is an insufficient amount to survive in Santa Cruz and social unrest will continue. The money you spend on police (whose role in the United States originated in slave patrols) speaks volumes to who you are really here to protect, and it is not students, and certainly not students of Color. You are here to protect profit and whiteness through the exploitation and plunder of bodies considered less than as well as the land (#protectmaunakea).

So we conclude with offering you what we do best, teach. Below is a starter pack reading list. Maybe you can co-create a Clueless Liberal White Women’s book club and join others on campus who view themselves as liberal or progressive but cannot grasp the importance of this movement and why it is important to pay people adequately for their labor, especially when a lot of the heavy lifting for diversity and social justice work is done by women and people of Color who are disproportionately affected by these injustices and normalized forms of violence:

• Me and White Supremacy Workbook by Layla Saad (2020)
• “Diversity” by Nick Mitchell (2018)
• Outline of Ten Theses on Coloniality and Decoloniality by Nelson Maldonado-Torres (2016)
• Racial Capitalism by Jodi Melamed (2015)
• The Language of Diversity by Sara Ahmed (2007)
• Our Enemies in Blue: Police and Power in America by Kristian Williams (2015)

The majority of these essays and texts are free online and can be downloaded right away. No excuses.

Sincerely,

1. Christine Rosales, MINT Program Coordinator (2016–2019)
2. Melanie Ho, MINT Program Coordinator (2019- present)
3. Isabela Vanier, MINT Undergraduate Student Program Coordinator (2019-present)
4. Francisca Verduzco, MINT Undergraduate Student Program Coordinator (2019-present)
5. Valeria Mena, Undergraduate MINT Scholar (2018–2019)
6. Yesenia Vega, Undergraduate MINT Scholar (2019–2020)
7. Kara Stone, Graduate MINT Mentor (2019–2020)
8. Ana Escalante, Undergraduate MINT Scholar (2019–2020)
9. Destiny Negrete, Undergraduate MINT Scholar (2019–2020)
10. Tamiko Huey, Undergraduate, MINT Scholar (2019–2020)
11. Karli DeRego, Graduate MINT Mentor (2018–2020)
12. Paulette D. Garcia Peraza, Graduate MINT Mentor (2017–2019)
13. Jenniffer Perez, Undergraduate MINT Scholar (2018–2019)
14. Sydne Kitoto Seals, Undergraduate MINT Scholar (2018–2019)
15. Theresa Hice Johnson, Graduate MINT Mentor (2017–2018; 2019–2020)
16. Brenda C. Gutierrez, Graduate MINT Mentor (2017–2019)
17. Anna Russo, Graduate MINT Mentor (2016-present)
18. Christina Ayson-Plank, Graduate MINT Mentor (2019–2020)
19. Valeria Paredes, Undergraduate MINT Scholar (2019–2020)
20. Kylie A. Kenner, Graduate MINT Mentor (2019–2020)
21. Sandra M. Ramirez, Undergraduate MINT scholar (2019–2020)
22. Evanjelin Mahmoodi, Undergraduate MINT scholar (2018–2019)
23. Paloma Medina, Graduate MINT Mentor (2018–2019)
24. Vivian Underhill, Graduate MINT Mentor (2018–2019)
25. Michelle Gomez Parra, Graduate MINT Mentor (2017–2019)
26. Roxanna Villalobos, Graduate MINT Mentor (2017–2018, 2018–2019)
27. Giselle Laiduc, Graduate MINT Mentor (2018–2019)
28. Maria Fernanda Alcantara Ornelas, Undergraduate MINT Scholar (2017–2018)
29. Kelli Haupage, Undergraduate MINT Scholar (2019–2020)
30. Anabell Gimena, Undergraduate MINT Scholar (2016–2019)
31. Dana Padilla, Undergraduate MINT Scholar (2018–2019)
32. Anakaren Quintero, Undergraduate MINT Scholar (2019–2020)
33. Isabela Pante, Undergraduate MINT Scholar (2017–2018)
34. Christy Starr, Graduate MINT Mentor (2018–2019)
35. Annie Ditta, Graduate MINT Mentor (2017–2018)
36. Michelle Hua, Undergraduate MINT Scholar (2018–2019)
37. Amy Mancia, Undergraduate Women’s Center Lead Intern & MINT Scholar (2018–2019)
38. Keegan Farrell, Graduate MINT Mentor (2018–2019)
39. Sage Alucero Juarez, Undergraduate MINT Scholar (2019–2020)
40. Daniel Rodriguez Ramirez, Graduate MINT Mentor (2016–2017)
41. Daisy Torres, Undergraduate MINT Scholar (2019–2020)
42. Monica Mikhail, Graduate MINT Mentor (2019–2020)
43. Carina Gavino, Undergraduate MINT Scholar (2019–2020)
44. Natalie Vivian Valencia Espitia, MINT Scholar (2018–2019)
45. Diana Bracamontes-Vargas, Undergraduate MINT Scholar (2019–2020)
46. Mariah Kelley-Huron, Graduate MINT Mentor (2019–2020)
47. Anny Mogollón, Graduate MINT Mentor (2019–2020)
48. Manaiya D. Scott, Undergraduate MINT Scholar (2018–2019)
49. Brittany E. Miles, Graduate MINT Mentor (2017–2019)
50. Azucena Lucatero, Graduate MINT Mentor (2017–2019)
51. Emily Hentschke, Graduate MINT Mentor (2016–2018)
52. Selena Vengco, Undergraduate MINT Scholar (2018–2019)
53. Clara Qin, Graduate MINT Mentor (2019–2020)
54. Alexandra Merritt, Graduate MINT Mentor (2016–2017)
55. Lucia Ortiz, Undergraduate MINT Scholar (2018–2019)
56. Fabiana De Lima, Undergraduate MINT Scholar (2017–2018)
57. Stephanie Nystrom, Graduate MINT Mentor (2016–2017)
58. Ana M. Nunez Castrejon, Graduate MINT Mentor (2019–2020)
59. Andrea Vazquez, MINT Mentor (2017–2018)
60. Leian Dinatale, Undergraduate, Women’s Center Student Programmer (2019-present)
61. Cynthia Huynh, Undergraduate MINT Scholar (2018–2019)
62. Lindsey Tavares-Sabido, Undergraduate MINT Scholar (2019–2020)
63. Priscilla Veloz, Undergraduate, WC Student Program Coordinator (2019-Present)
64. Maggy Chen, Undergraduate MINT Scholar (2016–2017)
65. Esra Ozban, Graduate MINT Mentor (2019–2020)
66. Bianca Del Toro, Undergraduate MINT Scholar (2019–2020)
67. Vanessa De La Torre, MINT Undergraduate Student Program Coordinator (2019- Present)
68. Cathy Thomas, Graduate MINT Mentor (2019–2020)
69. Evelyn Tapia-Medrano, Undergraduate MINT Scholar (2018–2019)
70. Natalia Ubilla, Alumni, MINT Scholar (2016–2017)
71. Karla Mondragon, Undergraduate MINT Scholar (2018–2019)
72. Katherinne Mejia, Undergraduate MINT Scholar (2019–2020)
73. Sandra Harvey, Graduate MINT Mentor (2016–2017)
74. Stephanie Barron Lu, Undergraduate MINT Scholar (2017–2018)
75. Morgan Bostic, Undergraduate MINT Scholar (2016–2017)
76. Alessandra Rodriguez y Baena, Graduate MINT mentor (2019–2020)
77. Monica Estrada Arias MINT (scholar 2019–2020)
78. Janeth Montenegro Marquez (Undergraduate Mint Scholar 2018–2019)
79. Alison Hanson, Graduate MINT Mentor (2017–2018)
80. Tania Torres, MINT Scholar (2016–2017)
81. Yvonne Sherwood, Graduate MINT Mentor (2018–2019)
82. Wendy L. Siguenza, Undergraduate MINT Scholar (2018–2019)
83. Samm V. Garcia, Undergraduate MINT Scholar (2018–2019)

This letter does not represent the Women’s Center under which the MINT program is housed, nor the Division of Student Success. This letter reflects the views of MINT Program participants (signatories of this letter).

On Friday February 28, 2020, four MINT program graduate student mentors (3 of which are co-signers on this letter) were among the 54+ fired from UCSC for peacefully protesting for a living wage. Others that were fired were single mothers, pregnant women, and international students now at risk for deportation.