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SDSU declines donation of $1 million Black Music Archive
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INSIDE THIS ISSUE
OPINION
Taking a language learning classes provides valuable life skills.
PAGE 3
ARTS & CULTURE
Arzu Ozkal is named the newest director of Arts Alive SDSU, beginning in July 2022.
PAGE 5
MUNDO AZTECA
El senado de la univesidad vota por el reconocimeinto de tierra ser opcional.
PAGE 6
SPORTS
Men’s basketball finished their regular season, as they prepare for thed MWC tournament.
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INDEX
News.............................. 1-2 Opinion..............................3 Art..................................4-5 Mundo ............................. 6 The Back Page, Sports .... 7-8
by EugéniE budnik
STAFF WRITER
The John Coltrane Memorial Black Music Archive consists of over 50,000 jazz, blues, gospel, and reggae albums and is valued at over $1 million. The collection was intended to be donated to the San Diego State Malcolm A. Love Library, but disagreements between SDSU and the donors have stalled the university’s acquisition of the collection.
Bram and Sandra Dijkstra, long time Del Mar residents, are the owners of the collection which makes up the John Coltrane Memorial Black Music Archive. The gift was accepted in June 2020 by The Campanile Foundation, SDSU University Relations and Development (URAD) and the SDSU Library.
At the time, Patrick McCarthy was serving as Interim Dean of the Library and was one of the key players in accepting the gift.
“It [The John Coltrane Memorial Black Music Archive] will also be an integral part of our development of an unrivaled Social Justice collection and advances the university’s strategic goal to be a global leader in promoting and supporting diversity, equity, and inclusion,” McCarthy said in a statement published by the SDSU Alumni Foundation.
However, the university withdrew from the agreement to accept the collection in June 2021.
In an email sent to Bram and Sandra Dijkstra by Dean of the Library Scott Walters, library administrators told the Dijkstra’s the “core commitment to begin accepting the materials and to house them” was not currently possible.
According to the Dijkstras, SDSU administration asked the couple for funding to cover the expenses to properly house the collection in the Love Library. These expenses were not covered by the donors in the original agreement.
“There is nothing in the agreement that obliged us to provide cash at all,” Sandra Dijkstra said.
Dijkstra, who currently operates a literary agency, has ties to SDSU that go back all the way to the 1970s, where she taught in the university’s first women’s studies program.
The school went back and forth with the Dijkstras around three or four times, each time coming up with a reason as to why the university would no longer be able to house the collection.
Dijkstra claims she and her husband had continuously abided by the agreement between them and the university.
“We had not made any changes to the agreement, we were abiding by the agreement. They [SDSU] were the ones who made changes to the agreement,” Dijkstra said.
When contacted regarding the John Coltrane Memorial Black Music Archive, SDSU released the following:
“The SDSU Library was honored to accept Sandy and Bram Dijkstra’s offer in 2020 to bequeath their curated jazz collection to SDSU. The university remains happy to accept the collection under the terms of the agreement signed by the Dijkstras in 2020.
One year after agreeing to the terms of the signed agreement, the Dijkstras reached out to the university regarding collection-specific staffing and infrastructure they expected. These were not included in the signed agreement and the university’s library was not in a position to provide these highcost requests.”
The donation was brought to the attention of the University Senate at their March 1 meeting this year, as senator Adisa A. Alkebulan drafted a resolution regarding the way in which
SEE BLACK MUSIC ARCHIVE, PAGE 2
Photo courtesy of Sandra Dijkstra Bran Dijkstra with his collection of over 50,0000 albums titled the John Coltraned Memorial Black Music Archive .
by EugéniE budnik
STAFF WRITER
On March 1, President Joe Biden gave his first State of the Union Address of his presidency.
The address was held in person and many attendees were maskless amid the CDC’s new COVID-19 masking guidelines.
President Biden’s speech focused on the Russian invasion of Ukraine, which has been ongoing and intensifying since Feb. 24. Biden condemned Russian President Vladimir Putin’s attack on Ukraine, calling it “premeditated” and “unprovoked”.
President Biden highlighted the resiliency of the Ukrainian people, and commended the leadership of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
“We, the United States of America, stand with the Ukrainian people,” Biden said.
Notably, this statement of support garnered bipartisan applause by multiple members of Congress in attendance.
Since Ukraine is not a NATO ally, President Biden did not promise military assistance to Ukraine, but instead made promises of monetary and humanitarian assistance.
“Our forces are not engaged and will not engage in the conflict with Russian forces in Ukraine. As I’ve made crystal clear, the United States and our allies will
Graphic by Janye Yutig
President Biden gave his first State of the Union Address to address the ongoing war in Ukraine.
State of the Union Address
continued from page 1
defend every inch of territory that is NATO territory with the full force of our collective power,” Biden said.
President Biden also discussed domestic issues such as economic inflation due to the COVID-19 pandemic, police reform and gun control. The debate for having the Kumeyaay Land Acknowledgement cited and stated as a requirement for syllabi at SDSU was discussed at the university senate meeting on March 1.
Since 2019, it has been a requirement for SDSU professors to include the land acknowledgement in their course syllabi. This sparked concern in some professors this past couple of weeks as they said they didn’t want to feel imposed to follow through with language forced by the university.
Steven Barbone, a SDSU professor from the philosophy department, was one of the proponents of this revision and expressed the acknowledgement infringed upon professors’ rights.
“As a professor, we value academic freedom,” Steven Barbone said. “There is a clause from the acknowledgement too close to a prayer.”
Barbone compared the clause for the acknowledgement, “We find inspiration in the Kumeyaay Spirit…,” to a symbol of worship exchanging the last words to “the Hail Mary” and “Satan.”
This outraged many voters and attendees.
“It is inappropriate and extremely disrespectful to compare a section of the Land Acknowledgement to Satan,” Associated Students President Ashley Tejada said. During the meeting, this requirement was voted to be removed from the syllabus policy, making it optional for professors to require the acknowledgement. The senate voted for this revision during the meeting with 44 votes for the revision, 38 against and 7 abstained.
This revision means that the acknowledgement clause will be removed from the syllabus requirements.
“As a university located on the historic lands of the Kumeyaay Nations, faculty retain the option to include the SDSU Land Acknowledgement statement (the abbreviated or full version) in their syllabus as recognition that SDSU resides on the land of the Kumeyaay, and as an expression of the university’s commitment to advancing access, justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion,” according to the March 1 meeting agenda.
Biden praised the passage of the bipartisan infrastructure bill as a driver for an increase in job gains and economic growth.
On the topic of police reform, President Biden received bipartisan support by speaking in favor of funding the police.
“We should all agree the answer is not to defund the police. It’s to fund the police. Fund them. Fund them with the resources and trainingresources and training they need to protect our communities,” Biden said.
Graphic courtesy of Adobe Stock In addition to addressing the war between Ukraine and Russia, Biden addressed COVID-19 and police reform.
Kumeyaay Land Acknowledgement no longer required in syllabi
by noé Sandoval
MUNDO AZTECA EDITOR
Photo by Katelynn Robinson The University Senate removed the policy requiring faculty members to include a land acknowledgement in their syllabi.
Black music archive:
continued from page 1
SDSU admin handled the acceptance of this gift.
Alkebulan, who is the chair of the Department of Africana Studies, presented the resolution in the hopes that it would establish a precedence of a broader range of voices when making decisions surrounding culturally impactful donations.
“I had no choice but to bring the matter before the University Senate and raise the issues outlined in the resolution,” Alkebulan said. “Though not included in the resolution, there is no doubt that this sordid affair is rooted in the lack of respect and appreciation the library and university leadership has for the Africana community and our culture.”
Many faculty members were quick to point out that the exclusion of faculty, staff and student voice in this decision was hypocritical to the university’s fiveyear plan, in which one of the priorities is “equity and inclusion in everything we do.”
Dijkstra commented on the lack of shared governance between SDSU admin, faculty, staff and students when it came to decision making.
“It is an affront to SDSU students. Their mantra is ‘equity and inclusion in everything we do.’ How can they exclude students and faculty in that decision?” Dijkstra said.
Dijkstra also commented on the fact that three non-Black SDSU admin, President Adela de la Torre, Vice President of University Development Adrienne Vargas and Dean of the Library Scott Walter had made the decision to reject the gift of the John Coltrane Memorial Black Music Archive and did not consult with any Black resources or groups on campus.
“Three white people who were not faculty made decisions on Black music which resulted in a huge loss for the SDSU community,” Dijkstra said.
The resolution drafted by Alkebulan called on the university to “work with the University Library and Diversity Equity and Inclusion Committees” when making decisions regarding culturally significant donations.
The resolution passed in the University Senate. Resolutions are only advisory documents and do not have the power to change or create new university policies without the approval from the university president.
Alkebulan said he hopes the SDSU administration will take serious consideration into adopting his resolution.
“I hope that shared governance be established in the consideration and deliberation of academic-related gifts by assuring faculty, staff and student voices in the form of expertise and senate committees are included,” Alkebulan said.
Bram and Sandra Dijkstra said they hope this resolution will finally allow for the acceptance of the John Coltrane Memorial Black Music Archive for the SDSU community to be able to access.
“The door is still open. The next John Coltrane could be sitting in one of your [SDSU’s] classrooms, and having access to the John Coltrane Memorial Black Music Archive could be what inspires them,” Dijkstra said.
