Asian American and Pacific Islander Faculty Oppose Cuts to EOP and CSU

We, the undersigned Asian American and Pacific Islander faculty, oppose Governor Schwarzeneggers proposed cuts to the Educational Opportunity Program (EOP) and the California State University (CSU).


EOP HELPS ASIAN AMERICAN AND PACIFIC ISLANDER STUDENTS. For many Asian American and Pacific Islander students from low-income families, EOP is their only vehicle to attending college.

I would not be here today without the EOP Program. I went to a community college in Fremont, while working as a maid/chauffeur. People from the EOP program came to Ohlone College and gave a talk. I had never thought of applying to UCB because I did not think I could afford it, or that it would be a place for someone like me. They told me that this was not true My undergraduate and graduate studies were funded by EOP. I am convinced that I could not have completed my education without that program (as a graduate student, I was a single mother).
~ Isabelle Thuy Pelaud, Assistant Professor, San Francisco State University

Many current EOP students are Southeast Asians Cambodian, Vietnamese, Laotian, and ethnic Chinese from Southeast Asia whose families arrived in the U.S. as refugees. Others are the children of new immigrants from India, Pakistan, Korea, Hong Kong, Thailand, Burma, and the Philippines. The parents of these students toil as garment workers, cooks in small restaurants, and assemblers in factories. Some operate very small businesses that survive through unpaid family labor. In contrast to the model minority stereotype, EOP students are often the first in their families to attend college and grow up in neighborhoods with few role models since their parents and relatives were always busy working. Almost all say that at their high school they hung out with the wrong crowd and got into trouble. Some have been members of gangs, others have been in jail or on probation, some come from single-family households, and some are from foster homes. Through EOP, these students often graduate with honors, go on to graduate school, and work as professionals giving back to their families and communities. They work in all sectors of the California economy from public sector jobs to working as corporate executives, from running small businesses to contributing to professions such as law and medicine. If the governor succeeds in ending EOP, Californias economy and our communities will be robbed of the talents of future leaders such as these.


EOP PROVIDES CRITICAL SERVICES. EOP provides access to higher education to thousands of low-income students, helping them to succeed academically, and enabling them to contribute to Californias economy upon graduation. In high schools in low-income neighborhoods, students often are not told by teachers or counselors that they have the potential to go to a four-year college. EOP staff recruits many first generation college students into the CSU and assists them with college applications, financial aid forms, and admissions procedures. Once enrolled at a CSU campus, EOP students receive financial aid to help them with tuition and school supplies, academic support services, tutoring, and academic advising.


EOP UPHOLDS THE RIGHT TO EDUCATION FOR ALL. We need to defend the right for all Californias young people to go to college, especially low-income students. This is a time for progress, not retreating back. Programs like EOP need to be expanded to reach out to hundreds of thousands of youth who remain shut out from our campuses, such as Samoans, Tongans, and other Pacific Islanders as well as growing numbers of African American, Latino American, Asian American and White American youth driven into poverty by current economic policies.

During the Civil Rights Movement, EOP along with companion departments such as Asian American Studies arose from the actions and sacrifices of students who organized teach-ins, rallies, picket lines, and sit-ins. Students fought for educational opportunities for low-income students. The Governor now seeks to roll back those hard won gains.


WE ASK YOU TO JOIN US IN DEFENDING EOP AND THE CSU!