At 1:30 p.m. the Afrikan Student Union led a silent march and sit-in in Chancellor Gene Block’s office in Murphy Hall in response to the noose that was found hanging in the UC San Diego library Thursday night.
According to the Associated Press, a female UCSD student confessed to hanging it with two other students this morning.
The noose, which to many represents racism and lynching, was a continuation of a series of racially charged events over the past few weeks.
The sit-in mirrored actions by UC San Diego students today, with whom UCLA students said they stood in solidarity.
Students requested that Chancellor Block make a public condemnation of UCSD’s lack of authoritative response and effort to ensure student safety.
About 100 UCLA students, with signs adorned with “Solidarity in diversity” and “It’s not a UCSD problem, its a UC problem,” sat in two lines along the second floor of Murphy Hall. After waiting in silence for Block to make an appearance, students began to chant “Real pain, real action,” followed by “Come out Block.” The chancellor then privately met with Afrikan Student Union Chairperson Corey Matthews and External Public Relations Coordinator Stephanie Roberts, the organizers of the protest, to discuss their concerns.
“The reason we came here is to ask Chancellor Block to make a statement to his community, to make sure we know they are taking every action possible. He has expressed that he has no decision-making power, but completely shares our sentiments,” Matthews said.
At 2:36 p.m, Block addressed the crowd with a letter condemning the UCSD incident compiled and signed by UC President Mark Yudof, the UC Academic Senate and the other 10 UC chancellors. The letter expressed continuing distress for the blatant racism recently observed on USCD’s campus.
“I am deeply, deeply disturbed by what has happened,” Block said. “When violations (of university principles) occur, it is incumbent on us to fight back. As always, the remedy of bad speech is good speech, and I urge you all to confront behavior that violates our values.”
Block reiterated that his primary concern is UCLA’s safety.
“I will work tirelessly to get the education you deserve, in the environment you deserve,” he added.
Outraged communities all over the UC system are coordinating their efforts to help USCD students and make sure such actions are not tolerated anywhere else, said Undergraduate Students Association Council General Representative Jason Tengco.
A statement from the UC deemed the events unacceptable and not representative of the views and values of the UC system, urging community members to speak out against racist acts.
“When violations occur, it is incumbent on us, as leaders and as stewards of free speech on our campuses, to push back. We have a responsibility to speak out against activities that promote intolerance or undermine civil dialogue,” the statement said.
Early last week, a UCSD fraternity hosted a party it stated was in honor of Black History Month, called “The Compton Cookout.”
The Facebook invitation to the party contained hurtful and racist stereotypes of the black community, and after mass media exposure, no official apologies were issued.
On Feb. 18, a UCSD student-sponsored late-night TV show covered the incident, during which people were said to have made racial slurs in defense of the party.
With contributing reports from Samantha Masunaga, Bruin senior staff.