Advocates for creating a Chicano Studies Department at Bakersfield College were upset that BC President Dr. Sandra Serrano did not attend their student protest Monday.

“Where is Mrs. Serrano? Why isn’t the president of the college out here? Why doesn’t she see this as a need or as an important thing to address?” Patrick McKendry, president of BC’s M.E.Ch.A. chapter, told the crowd. “We see the rest of the administrators out here, where is she? Is she on vacation? Or playing golf?”

“Sandra Serrano had a conference out of town that was scheduled long ago, and our presidents are very busy. This is an issue where the two vice presidents actually are the ones who should be most responsible for addressing student services issues and that’s what this happens to be,” responded Ken Meier, vice president of student learning.

More than 100 students showed up outside the campus library to show their support and to voice their concerns. The protest started around 10:30 a.m., when some students walked out of classes, and did not end until 3:30 p.m. M.E.Ch.A. members passed out blue ribbons for students to wear to show support of the cause, Many students held up signs that read “Resist” while some held up the Mexican flag. Students shouted “Viva Chicano Studies Department.”

Selene Magana, a BC student, addressed the crowd.

“Someone asked me a question: ‘Why should I support you guys for a Chicano Studies Department if you’re Mexican and I’m not?’ ” she said. “This is what I said: This is going to help everyone and anyone who has questions or financial aid problems. This is a department for anyone who needs help.”

The push for a Chicano Studies Department started about three years ago, according to Leon Arellano, a BC graduate. In recent meetings, students have asked Serrano to sign a document supporting the idea.

“We gave her a document and it says in that document pretty much, as the president of Bakersfield College, I am committed to listening to the students, committed to having my door opened, committed that I will use my power and influence to carry out the concerns of the students,” he said. “That sounds like things she should already be doing and we told her, ‘You know, if you sign this, then this temporarily solves the issue,’ but the president of the college did not sign it. She did not agree to any kind of leadership.”

In a previous interview with The Rip, Meier explained that the creation of a new department would need faculty and state approval, which could take more than two years.

The protest is another action to draw attention to the need for a Chicano Studies Department, according to McKendry.

“Our administration feels like the students are behind and we are trying to show them that the students are behind on education that goes beyond just math and science, education that involves our culture and our people and education that involves true American history,” he said. “That’s what this is about.”

Waiting for something to be done has been frustrating for M.E.Ch.A. members. According to Arellano, the school has given M.E.Ch.A. nothing but “M&M’s, memos and meetings, and still nothing has yet to be done.”