A grassroots student activism group calling itself the Brandeis Asian American Task Force called on the University administration to create an Asian American studies program by Fall 2016 in a letter sent to senior administrators last Monday and posted on medium.com last Wednesday. The letter gives administrators just over one week to sign a contract pledging that they will accede to the demands, calling upon administrators to respond to BAATF’s demands by today.

BAATF has asked that administrators pledge to create an Asian American Studies Department, with both a minor and a major — an earlier version of the contract had asked only for students to have the methods of developing their own major, but this was a typographical error, according to BAATF President Hin Hon (Jamie) Wong ’17 in an email to the Justice. The students also ask for an introductory Asian American Studies course to be offered by Fall 2016 and three tenure-track professors of Asian American Studies to be cluster-hired by the end of Spring 2016.

Additionally, BAATF is demanding a Florence Levy Kay fellow — a two-year-long, non-renewable teaching position for a post-doctoral student — for Asian American studies be appointed and that administrators act transparently and collaborate with BAATF throughout the process of creating the new department. The contract attached to the letter asks for signatures from Interim President Lisa Lynch, Senior Advisor to the President Peter Giumette, Interim Provost Irving Epstein, Chair of the Board of Trustees Perry Traquina ’78 and Dean of Undergraduate Arts and Sciences Susan Birren. Signing the contract would serve as a pledge to accomplish the goals.

In an email to the Justice, Wong said that she created BAATF so that Brandeis students could study Asian American history and culture, and that she had met with Senior Associate Dean of Arts and Sciences Elaine Wong before issuing the demands, alongside the president and vice president of the Brandeis Asian American Students Association. Elaine Wong told the Justice in a separate email that she had met with Hin Hon (Jamie)Wong and the BAASA representatives on Nov. 12, but the demands in the Dec. 2 letter are different from the aims she had discussed with the group.

BAATF distinguishes itself from BAASA in its manifesto, available online, wherein BAATF states that it is “advocacy based” and a “creator of sustainable and constructive plans,” and is not a “cultural organization, focused on building awareness.” BAASA representatives did not respond to request for comment by press time.

Hin Hon (Jamie) Wong declined to comment in her email to the Justice on what topics she’d like to see the proposed introductory course cover. Northwestern University’s Asian American Studies program, which was specifically mentioned in BAATF’s letter due to it originating from student activism in the late 1990s, consists of three core faculty and offers over 20 courses on topics including the experience of second-generation Asian Americans, Asian-Black relations in the United States, Asian Americans in popular culture and the ongoing effects of colonialism on Asia and the Pacific Islands. Several of these courses are cross-listed in departments including American studies, history, sociology and anthropology, according to the department’s website. When asked about other departments that may offer cross-listed courses with Asian American Studies, Hin Hon (Jamie) Wong wrote that, “We believe all departments can viably have cross-curricular courses with Asian American Studies. We must first achieve an agreement with the administration to create the program and department before beginning the hard work of creating and molding it.”

In an email to the Justice, Birren wrote that new curricular initiatives generally “come through departments and faculty who have constant interactions with students.” The Provost’s office creates new academic programs, which usually come from faculty drafting a proposal for the Undergraduate Curriculum Committee. Students occasionally contribute to these proposals as well. Any new programs must be approved in two separate votes of the faculty at mandated Faculty Meetings, according to Birren.

Birren also noted that even in programs with only one core course, such as the International and Global Studies program, there are significant costs to establishment; programs require staff support, a program chair, an oversight committee and operating expenses to support colloquia, meetings and special events. “Sustained support of a faculty chair requires an endowment of several million dollars,” according to Birren.

According to raw data accessible on the Provost office’s section of the University website, full-time professors in the year 2011 earned a median salary of $124,916. 93 percent of these professors at the time were tenured or on the tenure-track. Accounting for inflation, the cost of the three tenure-track professors required to meet the demands of BAATF, assuming they are paid the median salary, would cost the University an average of $1.56 million over four years. Estimates of the same cost based on data from March 17, 2005’s Report from the Ad Hoc Committee on Contract Faculty to the Provost and Faculty Senate stand at around $1.92 million, based on an average salary of around $130,000, or around $158,000 when accounting for inflation.

When asked about work the University has done to assess student demand for Asian American Studies, Elaine Wong replied that Brandeis last offered a course on the Asian American Experience in 2011 which enrolled 22 students, but she said, “This is one, but only one, indication of student interest but [is] now quite out of date.” According to Birren’s email, there has been discussions among faculty in the Anthropology and Women’s, Gender and Sexuality Studies departments who are supportive of creating an Asian American Studies minor.

As of press time, 270 students have signed a petition in support of BAATF, according to their medium account. In November, Hin Hon (Jamie) Wong conducted a student survey asking students whether they’d be interested in minoring in Asian American Studies, according to a medium.com post. Out of 121 total respondents, 40 students (33 percent) said they would be interested in such a minor while 37 students (31 percent) responded “maybe,” and 44 students (36 percent) said they would not. In contrast, 70 percent of students in Wong’s poll expressed interest in taking an introductory Asian American Studies course and 84 percent supported creating an “Asian and Asian American & Pacific Islander Center” on campus. In total, 69 percent of the respondents were Asian, Asian American or Pacific Islander American, according to the medium.com post.

A “Day of Action” rally is scheduled to be held at the Bernstein-Marcus Administration Center today from 1:30 to 3:00 p.m., according to a Facebook event created by BAATF. This is the same location where students recently held a sit-in for 12 days as part of the Ford Hall 2015 movement. The event also calls for students to call and email Lynch, Birren and Epstein throughout Monday to vocalize their support for the Asian American Studies department. According to Hin Hon (Jamie) Wong,

BAATF currently has 19 members, including Wong, and will determine its vice president by the end of the semester. She noted in a later email to the Justice that BAATF delayed releasing their letter until Nov. 23 out of respect for the Ford Hall 2015 movement, which BAATF supported — Ford Hall 2015 has since issued a statement of support for BAATF.

BAATF is not currently recognized as a student club by the Student Union. When asked at last night's State of the Union address whether she would be directly involved in any activism which BAATF chooses to pursue, Student Union President Nyah Macklin '16 responded, "I'm still navigating that. Right now I have to step down from my activism role and focus on the Union." Macklin was part of the Ford Hall 2015 negotiations team.

In a call for members distributed on Nov. 20, BAATF asked for individuals with experience in financial budgeting, statistical analysis, grant and foundation research, alumni outreach, and “organization sustainability planning.”

—Mihir Khanna and Jaime Kaiser contributed reporting.