UCSB and Broyles-Gonzalez have had a long history of conflict related to the department of Chicana/Chicano Studies. At most other campuses nationally, Chicano/a studies are either research centers or programs. At UCSB, it is a department. Broyles-Gonzalez was the first Chicana to head the department (1990-1994), but was not reappointed.
According to Broyles-Gonzalez, the university retaliated against her for supporting Acuna's age-discrimination suit. UCSB has not appointed a department chair for two years and derailed a proposal to establish the nation's first Ph.D. in Chicana/o studies.
She also said that UCSB has not abided by the terms of a 1994 student hunger strike. The hunger strikers called for the hiring of seven full professors by 1997. Today, Chicano studies has four-and-a-half positions.
In 1996, Broyles-Gonzalez was awarded the Lifetime Distinguished Scholar Award from the National Association for Chicana and Chicano Studies. She is the recent author of El Teatro Campesino: Theater in the Chicano Movement.
"One lawsuit cannot change a university system. But a lawsuit is a powerful reminder that this university is not above the law of the land which guarantees equal protection, civil rights and due process," she said. "If this permanent injunction signals a change [at] UC, then that is to be applauded."
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