Japanese studies get
By Clayton C. Ikei
no respectLIKE a car with three tires or a table with three legs, there's something obviously missing in one of the most celebrated and, at the same time, most beleaguered programs at UH-Manoa.
In a state where Americans of Japanese Ancestry (AJAs) make up more than 20 percent of the population, and a university with a traditionally large enrollment of AJA students, the UH department that is devoted to research of our ethnic communities has no one specializing in Japanese study.
For 20 years, this position was ably filled by Franklin Odo, who won national respect and recognition. That led to Odo being offered and accepting a prestigious appointment with the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C.
His departure left large shoes to fill. Not only have those shoes remained empty, it appears the administration wants to remove them from the department's doorstep. Instead of hiring an equally qualified person for the post, the UH seems inclined to do away with it entirely.
Could administrators be looking, not at the needs of students and the community, but at their bottom line? Might they be thinking about saving money by foregoing a top-flight scholar and instead rotating in a bunch of low-paid temporary lecturers?
We need strong, vital, involved academic departments that reflect our communities, train future leaders and help us understand more about the world and ourselves. That's what the ethnic studies program has embraced as its mission since its founding almost 30 years ago.
Somehow, though, too many UH administrations either didn't understand it or disagreed with it. Year after year, the program was threatened with extinction. It took sit-ins, protests and campaigns to keep it alive through its first decade. And despite living continually on the edge of oblivion, it thrived.
Enrollment and enthusiasm were high, and ethnic studies became a force. It has earned national respect and renown, and is in the forefront of scholarship in its field.
National recognition hasn't seemed to help much, though. Within the UH bureaucracy, ethnic studies continues to be the Rodney Dangerfield of departments: It just doesn't get any respect.
While institutions nationwide are expanding programs in ethnic and Asian-American studies, the UH program gets little support in Bachman Hall.
The Japanese American Citizens League is particularly concerned about this threat. As the oldest and largest AJA civil-rights organization in the country, we've supported ethnic studies and its achievements.
We understand that budgets are tight, and institutions everywhere are looking for ways to save money. Cutting fat is one thing; slicing through bone and tearing into the heart of a valuable resource is something entirely different.
We're trying to save this position because no one in the rarefied atmosphere of the top echelon administrators at UH seems to care much about it. The people in ethnic studies have dutifully followed the rules, but can't get any one of the higher-ups in the bureaucratic food chain to give them an answer.
JACL contacted the dean of the College of Social Sciences. He told us that it's up to the president. We've written to the president, but he hasn't bothered to answer. All we can assume is the worst.
So let's be clear. This isn't a matter of special treatment for a single ethnic group. It's making sure that all groups are represented fairly and equitably.
It's a matter of upholding the integrity of a department that, historically, has been battered and bruised by those in power, but has maintained its vision and remained true to its mission -- building bridges of understanding between our ethnic communities in a true spirit of aloha. Now, more than ever, we can ill afford to lose it.
Clayton C. Ikei is president of the Japanese American
Citizens League, Honolulu Chapter.