Santa Monica College Trustees Hear Protest : Education: Members of a Chicano student group asked for more Latino-related courses and an apology from a trustee they said had insulted them.

A Chicano student group at Santa Monica College is demanding a public apology from a college trustee who allegedly yelled a vulgar term at some students at a Cinco de Mayo celebration on campus last month.

The students also used that incident to call for an increase in Latino-related courses and in the number of Latino faculty.

Nearly two dozen members of the student group MEChA attended the monthly meeting of the Santa Monica Community College Board of Trustees on Monday night to ask that Trustee Fred Beteta apologize for interfering in a May 3 Cinco de Mayo celebration and to show support for a part-time Latino instructor who was the focus of the incident.

According to students, Carlos Vasquez, a part-time instructor who teaches Mexican and Latin American history, was speaking on the political significance of the holiday, which celebrates a Mexican army victory over the French in 1862, when Beteta asked one of the organizers, John Gonzalez, to cut off the speaker.

Gonzalez, director of the Hispanic Center, a campus counseling and support facility for Latino students, said in an interview that Beteta told him that Vasquez’s speech was too political and that he should not be allowed to continue speaking.

Gonzalez said he motioned to Vasquez to end his talk, but he said he did not think Beteta should have interfered.

“I feel that the students have a right to invite whomever they want,” Gonzalez said. “A board member does not have a right to dictate what goes on at these activities. If there is a disagreement, there is a procedure. We might have incited a riot if I had pulled the plug on the microphone as (Beteta) has asked.”

Jose Sigala and Raymundo Morales, students who helped organize the event, said that after Vasquez walked off the stage, Vasquez and Beteta began arguing. When Morales and Sigala approached them, Beteta then began complaining to them that Vasquez’s speech was inappropriate because of its political nature.

Beteta then allegedly uttered in Spanish a vulgar term for “fool” at Sigala and Morales and a few other MEChA students who had gathered.

Beteta, who arrived late to the meeting Monday night and was not present when the students spoke, acknowledged in an interview Tuesday that he did ask that Vasquez’s talk be cut off, but he denied using the derogatory term.

“I didn’t like the tone or context of his speech,” Beteta said. “I thought it was highly inappropriate. This is a cultural event, a music and dance celebration. I didn’t appreciate him turning the celebration into a political rally.”

Beteta, who won the Republican nomination for the 44th Assembly District on Tuesday, said the allegation that he called the students a derogatory term was “absurd” and said there was no reason to apologize. He said the charges stem from a running feud with MEChA members.

But Gonzalez and Vasquez said they heard Beteta use the term. “He was being pushy and very abusive with the students,” Vasquez said.

Sigala told the board of trustees that Beteta should not have interfered--even if Vasquez’s speech was political.

“Cinco de Mayo is more than a day to sell tacos or listen to mariachi music, as your colleague has expressed to me, but a day to symbolize the overcoming of injustices and struggles by a determined people as is ours,” Sigala said.

The students, saying a better understanding of the Latino culture was needed, asked that more Latino-related courses be offered and that more Latino faculty be hired.

According to college officials, only a handful of Latino-related courses are offered. There are 34 Latino faculty instructors, evenly divided between full and part-time positions. Latinos make up 5% of the total faculty of 681.

Of the 23,629 students enrolled at the college, 2,459, or 12.4%, are Latino, according to a college spokesman.

The students expressed concern at the meeting that the Cinco de Mayo incident would affect Vasquez’s chances of becoming a full-time instructor this fall.

“Turning Mr. Vasquez away from this college would be a great mistake,” Karen Hendricks, one of Vasquez’s students, said at the meeting.

“It would be an educational travesty,” said Ed Schumacher, another student.

Personnel matters are confidential under state law, and college officials would not comment on Vasquez’s status. However, Vasquez said he has been told informally that he is not among the final candidates for the position of American history professor.

Vera Martinez, dean of letters, said she could not speak specifically about Vasquez, but said the incident would not play a part in any decision. She said the college’s affirmative action policy gives preference to minority candidates, all other things being equal.

Vasquez is scheduled to teach an American history course at the college this summer and has been asked to teach courses in Mexican history and Latin American history again this fall as a part-time instructor. However, he said that, if a full-time position or a visiting professor position is not offerred, he will probably accept an offer to direct an oral history program at the University of New Mexico.

Trustee Ilona Katz explained to the students Monday night that they would not make a decision on the courses because state law prohibits the board from taking action on any item that has not been placed on the agenda. The board, however, expressed support for multicultural programs and directed college President Richard Moore to look into expanding Latino-related course offerings and report back.

Students said they would not wait for that report and will begin a letter-writing campaign to muster support from the community.

“We believe this is something that is vital,” said Carmen Rico, a returning student and community activist.