Cal State Dominguez Hills students, faculty rally to save 6 'essential' programs from chopping block

Faculty, students, alumni and community partners are demanding the California State University, Dominguez Hills administration withdraw a proposal to eliminate six academic programs.

The six programs in question are art history, earth sciences, geography, labor studies, philosophy and “Negotiation, Conflict Resolution and Peacebuilding.”

In addition to the possibility of fewer academic options, according to the California Faculty Association — the union that represents CSU professors, lecturers, librarians, counselors and coaches — an estimated 40 jobs will be eliminated at Cal State Dominguez Hills if this plan is approved.

What's the university's position?

The CSU system is facing a $2.3 billion budget gap, despite tuition increases. The gap is rooted in cuts to state funding and increased labor costs.

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"The university’s current financial constraints limit our ability to invest in new or expanded programs," university spokesperson Lilly McKibbin said via email.

She added that no final decisions have been made and that the process to end a program would give faculty a chance to "review data and hear from the campus community."

If the proposed cuts are made, McKibbin added, "all students enrolled in these programs will be able to finish their degrees at CSUDH." She also said the campus "does not anticipate layoffs of tenured or tenure-track faculty as a result of program discontinuation."

"As course offerings are reduced," she added, "it will result in less work available for lecturers."

What the programs mean to students and faculty

University faculty say the programs are an essential part of the university living up to its values.

“These programs are not expendable — they are essential,” said Stephen McFarland, a labor studies professor at the campus and a CFA executive board member. “Eliminating them would narrow students’ opportunities at a moment when they need more pathways, not fewer.”

At a rally Tuesday against the proposed cuts, several labor studies students told LAist they chose to study at Cal State Dominguez Hills because no other CSU campus in southern California offers this major.

"It's the only reason that I'm here," said senior Isaac Shtil. "The fact that I can work toward a future in which I can make things better for my community — and for every community — is really important to me. And I don't want to be the last person that gets to do that. I want other students to come here and enjoy the privileges I've [had]."

Shtil noted that while his campus contemplates eliminating his major, UCLA recently launched a labor studies program, with plans to offer a master's degree.

Students at the rally also believe that cutting classic majors like art history and philosophy would be unthinkable at elite universities. That this is being contemplated at Cal State Dominguez Hills, where Black and Latino students make up the majority of the student population, is alarming, said senior Jamil Amin.

More than 60% of its students are eligible for federal Pell Grants, and according to the campus' magazine, most awards go to students with family incomes below $20,000. 

"What that tells me is that the students here, the working class, don't have the right to study these things," Shtil said.

Cheyenne Cummings, a professor in the earth sciences department, warned against using enrollment as a marker of a program's strength.

Cummings is a Cal State Dominguez Hills graduate. And when he earned his bachelor's degree, he graduated at the top of his class in two majors: psychology and earth sciences. He credits his success to small classroom sizes in the latter.

"That mentorship I had, that closeness with my faculty — that may not have happened if I'd been in a program with thousands of students," he said.