SJ college board delays vote on non-Native ethnic studies hire over community protest

NEARLY 600 COMMUNITY members signed an online petition within days of its launching to oppose the hiring of a non-Native instructor for Evergreen Valley College’s first full-time Native American studies teaching position.

Indigenous students, faculty and residents with feathers and ceremonial drums protested at the San Jose-Evergreen Community College District meeting on Tuesday, with signs reading “Nothing about us without us is for us.” The board was set to approve the hiring of ethnic studies instructor Ryan Tripp at the meeting, but unanimously voted to put the decision on hold. Advocates said the hiring of a non-Native instructor furthers the discrimination that Indigenous communities have faced for generations.