San Fransisco State University Boycott

In November 1968, students at the San Francisco State University (SFSU) organized a series of protests and demonstrations demanding greater representation of minorities and a more inclusive curriculum on campus. The protests quickly grew in size and intensity, as students occupied buildings, clashed with police, and engaged in a prolonged strike that shut down the university for several months.

It was during this struggle that the students of Asian descent, who had been separately represented according to their country of origin, came together for a common goal and started to call themselves “Asian-American” for the first time.  

The protestors' demands included the creation of an ethnic studies program, the hiring of more minority faculty members, and an end to discrimination and bias on campus. The protests were met with violent repression from the police, who used tear gas, batons, and other forms of force to disperse the demonstrators.

Despite the violence and opposition, the SFSU protestors persisted in their demands, and eventually, the university agreed to implement many of their proposed changes. In 1969, SFSU became the first university in the United States to establish an ethnic studies department, including the very first Asian American study, which has since become ubiquitous in educational institutions around the country.