BILL NUMBER: ACR 20	CHAPTERED
	BILL TEXT

	RESOLUTION CHAPTER  23
	FILED WITH SECRETARY OF STATE  MAY 1, 2013
	ADOPTED IN SENATE  APRIL 25, 2013
	ADOPTED IN ASSEMBLY  APRIL 15, 2013
	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  APRIL 15, 2013
	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  APRIL 1, 2013

INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Members Logue and Perea
   (Coauthors: Assembly Members Achadjian, Alejo, Allen, Ammiano,
Atkins, Bigelow, Bloom, Blumenfield, Bocanegra, Bonilla, Bonta,
Bradford, Brown, Buchanan, Ian Calderon, Campos, Chau, Chávez,
Chesbro, Conway, Cooley, Dahle, Daly, Dickinson, Donnelly, Eggman,
Fong, Fox, Frazier, Beth Gaines, Garcia, Gatto, Gray, Gordon, Gorell,
Grove, Hagman, Hall, Roger Hernández, Holden, Jones, Jones-Sawyer,
Levine, Linder, Maienschein, Mansoor, Medina, Melendez, Mitchell,
Morrell, Mullin, Muratsuchi, Nazarian, Nestande, Olsen, Pan,
Patterson, John A. Pérez, V. Manuel Pérez, Quirk, Quirk-Silva,
Rendon, Salas, Skinner, Stone, Ting, Torres, Wagner, Waldron, Weber,
Wieckowski, Wilk, Williams, and Yamada)
   (Coauthor: Senator Nielsen)

                        FEBRUARY 20, 2013

   Relative to postsecondary education.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   ACR 20, Logue. Postsecondary education: instruction in world
religions: Sikhism.
   This measure would recognize the need for the inclusion of Sikhism
in world religions, Eastern religions, Asian, and South Asian
courses at all postsecondary educational institutions and advise the
concerned academic governing bodies, deans, and department chairs to
include Sikhism in their institution's world religions, Eastern
religions, Asian, and South Asian courses.



   WHEREAS, California is blessed and enriched by the unparalleled
diversity of our residents; and
   WHEREAS, The United States Declaration of Independence states that
all men are created equal, and this truth is emphasized by Sikh Holy
Scriptures through hymns like, "One Father, and we are children of
the One," and "Recognize ye, all Humanity as the Same"; and
   WHEREAS, Sikh Americans appreciate and enjoy various citizen's
rights, including the "freedom to worship as you wish." Our country
is a country of immigrants and a pluralistic society, with numerous
ethnic groups practicing many different religions, including Sikhism;
and
   WHEREAS, In our highly diverse state, over 250,000 residents
follow Sikhism, comprising 1/3 of the total estimated 750,000 Sikh
population of our country; and
   WHEREAS, Dr. D.S. Saund, a Sikh, became a naturalized United
States citizen in December 1949, almost 30 years after immigrating to
the United States in 1920. Dr. Saund first served as a judge in the
Imperial Valley (1952-56) and then became the first Asian American
elected to the United States House of Representatives in 1956, and
other Sikhs have recently served as members of city councils and as
mayors; and
   WHEREAS, By dint of their hard work, the Sikhs have distinguished
themselves in many fields, especially in agriculture, trucking,
security services, small family owned businesses, medical services,
engineering, and information technology and science, as noted in
Assembly Concurrent Resolution 181 (Res. Ch. 161, Stats. 2010) and in
Assembly Concurrent Resolution 97 (Res. Ch. 60, Stats. 2012); and
   WHEREAS, During the 1915 dedication of the first American Gurdwara
(Stockton Sikh Temple), Professor Pope of the University of
California, Berkeley, described Sikhism as pure and lofty monotheism,
and mentioned the following as Sikhism's special features: no
castes, no idol worship, equality of women, tolerance of other
religions, free dining, and bravery of Sikh soldiers in times of war,
and the Sikhs have served in all United States wars since 1917; and
   WHEREAS, Guru Nanak (1469-1539) founded Sikhism in Northwestern
India and Sikhism is not a branch of any other religion. Sikhs now
live in most countries and have Gurdwaras in 65 countries, with nine
in greater Sacramento alone; and
   WHEREAS, Earning their livelihood honestly, sharing their earnings
with the needy, and meditating on the name of the Creator are the
three Pillars of Sikhism. Truthful living, selfless service, and
minimizing the vices and maximizing the virtues are important
preachings of Sikhism; and
   WHEREAS, The Sikhs are conspicuous and easy to spot, owing to
their turbans, and have suffered from a disproportionately high
number of hate crimes, including bullying and shooting, in the
misguided backlash of the September 11, 2001, attacks on our country;
and
   WHEREAS, The Sikh faith is the fifth largest world religion after
Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, and Buddhism, and is the third largest
monotheism, after Christianity and Islam, yet Sikhism is not
included in world religions courses at most postsecondary educational
institutions; now, therefore, be it
   Resolved by the Assembly of the State of California, the Senate
thereof concurring, That the Legislature hereby recognizes the need
for the inclusion of Sikhism in world religions, Eastern religions,
Asian, and South Asian courses at all postsecondary educational
institutions, such as University of California, California State
University, and California Community Colleges systems, and advises
the concerned academic governing bodies, deans, and department chairs
to include Sikh culture and faith in their institutions' world
religions, Eastern religions, Asian, and South Asian courses; and be
it further
   Resolved, That the Chief Clerk of the Assembly transmit copies of
this resolution to the author, the Members of the Legislature, the
Chancellor of the California Community Colleges, the Academic Senate
of the California Community Colleges, the Chief Academic Officer, the
Chancellor and the Vice Chancellor for the California State
University, the President and the Executive Vice President for
Academic Affairs of the University of California, for further
transmission to the deans of humanities and chairs of philosophy and
religious studies departments, and major Sikh organizations and
interested persons.