Dear Chancellor Block:
In the predawn darkness this past Friday, a large contingent of police arrived on campus to remove a group of students who were peacefully protesting tuition increases, student loan debt and the collapse of public funding for the University of California. In an act of civil disobedience, 14 students chose to ignore an order to disperse and were arrested.
Their crime, formally, was to violate a campus policy against camping. But in reality they were arrested for engaging in political speech at a time and in a manner that did not please the campus administration. For this political action, they may face disciplinary proceedings.
As UCLA faculty we call on you, Chancellor Block, to drop any charges that may be pending against these students. The freedom to openly debate controversial topics is at the core of university life.
The students occupying Wilson Plaza on Thursday night were not posing a health or safety risk. They were not disrupting the educational mission of the university. They were holding ongoing discussions ““ what they call a “general assembly” ““ to share information and experiences and decide together how to face the future.
So far UCLA has avoided the bitter conflicts between campus police and students that we have seen at UC Berkeley and UC Davis.
You will recall, however, that in 2009 university police at UCLA engaged in questionable use of force that injured students and triggered an internal review.
While different people may have different perceptions of the review’s conclusions about the use of force in 2009, no one would disagree with their reaffirmation that “when members of the university community peaceably assemble to challenge some aspect of University governance, their rights to advocacy must be respected” (44).
We have a chance to find another path at UCLA. As UCLA’s own “Principles of Community” declare, “we are committed to ensuring freedom of expression and dialogue, in a respectful and civil manner, on the spectrum of views held by our varied and diverse campus communities.”
As anyone visiting the protest site can attest, the protesters were upholding their end of this charge ““ far better than we see in most of the political debate in this country. To stifle their voice would shortchange the future.
At both Davis and Berkeley, campus police have deployed deplorable violence and injured students and faculty. On both campuses, police introduced violence while students, staff and faculty were engaged in peaceable protest.
We call on you to ensure that UCLA does not follow in their footsteps and fail to uphold the principles for which the university stands.
We urge you to drop all charges and disciplinary proceedings against the students arrested in Wilson Plaza and also to respect students’ rights to protest the pressing issues of our political, social and educational life.
Sincerely,
The undersigned
Tobias Higbie, associate professor of history; Michael Meranze, professor of history; Jenny Sharpe, professor of English and women’s studies; Michelle Clayton, associate professor of comparative literature and Spanish and Portuguese; Chris Looby, professor of English; Nouri Gana, associate professor of comparative literature; Jan de Leeuw, distinguished professor and chair of statistics; Joseph Bristow, professor of English; Saree Makdisi, professor of English; Steven Nelson, associate professor of African and African American art history; Carole H. Browner, professor of anthropology; Jeffrey Prager, professor of sociology; Jessica R. Cattelino, associate professor of anthropology; Jack Chen, associate professor of Asian languages and cultures; David Delgado Shorter, associate professor of world arts and cultures; Noah Zatz, professor of law; Katherine King, professor of comparative literature; Matthew Fischer, assistant professor of English; Gerry A. Hale, professor emeritus of geography; Peter McLaren, professor of education and information studies; Michael Cooperson, associate professor of Near Eastern languages and cultures; Andrea Goldman, assistant professor of history; George Baker, associate professor of modern and contemporary art; Allen F. Roberts, professor of world arts and cultures; Susan Curtiss, professor emeritus of linguistics; Henry A. Hespenheide, professor emeritus of ecology; Kathleen A. McHugh, professor of English and cinema and media studies program; Valerie Matsumoto, professor of history and Asian American studies; Sondra Hale, professor of anthropology and women’s studies; Elizabeth DeLoughrey, associate professor of English; Stephen Yenser, distinguished professor of English; Robert Brenner, professor of history; Vinay Lal, associate professor of history; Sharon Traweek, associate professor of women’s studies and history; Susan Slyomovics, professor of anthropology and Near Eastern languages and cultures; Susan L. Foster, distinguished professor of world arts and cultures; Teofilo Ruiz, professor of history and Spanish and Portuguese; Rafael Perez-Torres, professor of English; Jason Throop, associate professor of anthropology; Kenneth L. Karst, Price professor of law emeritus; Susan Plann, professor of applied linguistics and Spanish and Portuguese; Alex Purves, associate professor of classics; Helen Deutsch, professor of English; Yogita Goyal, associate professor of English; Michael Salman, associate professor of history; Jan Reiff, associate professor of history; Chris Tilly, professor of urban planning; Grace Hong, associate professor of women’s studies and Asian American studies; Lowell Gallagher, associate professor of English; Arthur Little, associate professor of English; Carollee Howes, professor of education.
This list contains all the letter’s signatories as of press time. For a complete list, please visit uclafacultyunited.wordpress.com/2011/11/19/letter-to-chancellor-block