Exhibition curated by AHI 401

Opening Reception, March 9, 12:30-3pm, Nelson Hall

“UC Davis’s Two-Year Goals Summary 2013 – 2014 and 2014 – 2015” offers a set of initiatives for campus expansion that also serves as a strategic response to the anticipation of the State’s refusal to replenish funding the University of California at 2001-2002 levels. One of the goals of the Summary is for UC Davis to become a “Hispanic Serving Institution” (HSI) by 2018-2019. An HSI is defined as having at least 25% of the undergraduate student population be of Hispanic heritage.

Following the spirit of Matt Taibbi’s investigation in The Divide: American Injustice in the Age of the Wealth Gap, “The Promise of Diversity“ raises questions about how this initiative creates and/or reinforces divides across campus. Through a combination of text, objects, and images–including posters from the UC Davis Chicana/o Studies Poster Archive—the exhibition, on another level, explores the language of these initiatives, and other documents, and their underlying, oftentimes ambiguous, and/or opaque meanings.  

“The Promise of Diversity“ is not a condemnation of the University’s initiatives, or of UC Davis’s goal to become an HSI, but rather a presentation and open invitation to explore the complex problems of diversity, inclusion, and multiculturalism that affect not only racialized minority groups, but all students at UC Davis.

#promiseofdiversity

Nelson Hall (former Nelson Gallery), hours: 12-5 pm
Directions to Nelson Gallery

“The Promise of Diversity“ is made possible with the generous support of the UC Davis Chicana/o Studies Poster Archive, California Raptor Center, Bohart Museum of Entomology, Jan Shrem and Maria Manetti Shrem Museum of Art, UC Davis Art History Program, Davis Humanities Institute, Office of Campus Community Book Project, Tim McNeil, and Leah Theis.