WHO IS ANGELA DAVIS ?
HERBERT MARCUSE ’ S most well-known student , Angela Davis , MA ’ 69 , spent only a year earning a graduate degree at UC San Diego , but what she did during her time here continues to be felt .
Coming from a childhood framed by racist violence in Birmingham , Alabama , Davis first met Marcuse at Brandeis University , where she studied French literature . She quickly caught up to Marcuse ’ s philosophy students and studied with his peers in Europe , yet Davis felt disconnected overseas , especially as the civil rights struggle and Black Power movement unfolded in the U . S . When Marcuse encouraged her toward graduate school at UC San Diego , she saw the chance to join a community mobilizing for social justice . Yet when she arrived , she found few Black students and professors on campus . “ When I first came to UC San Diego , it was weeks before I even saw another Black person ,” she recalls . The movements that she had heard so much about hadn ’ t yet formed on campus . Out of this isolation , Davis cultivated her skill for community building . She was instrumental in organizing the first Black Student Council and planted the seeds for people interested in activism to find each other .
Though outspoken on many issues of the time , including feminism and war resistance , Davis found purpose in the creation of an academic home for students and faculty of color . With a third college on the horizon , Davis saw an opportunity to address the shortcomings in diversity and the representation of minorities , on campus and in curriculum .
But the cause could not move forward without a strong team . Davis led a multiracial coalition between the Black Student Council , Movimiento Estudiantil Chicano de Aztlán ( MEChA ), and working-class white students . Together they proposed a vision for Third College focused on equal representation and multicultural perspectives . The proposed name would pay homage to African revolutionary Patrice Lumumba and Mexican revolutionary Emiliano Zapata .
Though the name did not go through , Third College was ultimately founded with core elements of this effort . Social justice became its ethos , and the required class Dimensions of Culture ( DOC ) addressed issues through various cultural lenses . Eventually named for Supreme Court justice Thurgood Marshall , the college ’ s crest of three hands harkens to those emblazoned on protest signs , and represents the alliance of all backgrounds in the commitment to shape the future .
After graduating , Davis would continue to challenge the status quo in academia . Like her mentor , she saw her faculty position at UCLA targeted by Governor Ronald Reagan and the UC Regents , with multiple terminations and reappointments . Davis would receive support from other academics and students — support that would follow her when she was faced with criminal charges in association with a violent courtroom attack in Marin County , Calif . Davis was ultimately acquitted on all counts , but her imprisonment would spark an outcry across the world to “ Free Angela Davis .” The experience would also influence her activist work over the decades , especially in dismantling the prison-industrial complex , all while she taught and lectured at universities across the country , including several UCs .
Just as Davis made her mark at the university , students have made a mark of her . She stands among the luminaries in Price Center ’ s Black Legacy Mural , and she is a can ’ t-miss on the Che Café , painted for one of her several returns to campus to speak . Former Black Student Council member Pamela Fruge ’ 87 recalls welcoming Davis back : “ She represents how every one of us can make a powerful impact . Whether you ended up being a national icon or not isn ’ t the point . The point is that you live your passions and you stand up for what is just . And every one of us can do that — you don ’ t have to wait , you can create a legacy of your own and have a positive impact on society with the work that you do .”
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