Feb. 21, 2019
Dear campus community,
In recent weeks, the Berkeley administration has received several reports of negative comments directed at our Chinese-American faculty, as well as at researchers engaged in collaborations with Chinese companies and institutions, implying without basis that these scholars could be acting as spies or otherwise working at odds with the interests of the United States. We have heard reports of similar messages directed at Iranian-American faculty and others with academic or personal ties to the Middle East.
Let us be clear that comments of this sort breed hurt and distrust, discriminate against members of our community, and run counter to our well-established Principles of Community. At a time when national security issues involving foreign countries make the front pages of our newspapers, it is critical that we not become any less welcoming to students, staff, faculty, visiting scholars, and other members of our community who come from those countries, or for whom those countries are an ancestral home. As California’s own dark history teaches us, an automatic suspicion of people based on their national origin can lead to terrible injustices.
We therefore write to reaffirm that Berkeley remains open to people from all over the world, and ask that you continue to make all members of our community feel welcome and respected. In this regard, please be mindful that even off-hand remarks made in jest can be harmful to building the inclusive environment we wish to have on campus.
Beyond all this, as a general rule, Berkeley faculty and graduate students do not work with sensitive technological secrets or sensitive knowledge. Since the 1930s, University of California policy has made it clear that campuses will not engage in any research whose results cannot be openly and publicly disseminated.
If you have concerns about any aspects of the research partnerships taking place at Berkeley, we encourage you to contact the Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research at vcr@berkeley.edu. Thank you for endeavoring to make our campus a place where all members of our community feel welcome.
Sincerely,
Carol Christ, Chancellor
Paul Alivisatos, Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost
Randy Katz, Vice Chancellor for Research
Source: https://news.berkeley.edu/2019/02/21/reaffirming-our-support-for-berkeleys-international-community/
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A message from campus leaders in condemnation of violence
Feb. 21, 2019
To the Berkeley Campus Community,
Yesterday, UCPD sent out a notice and request for information related to a reprehensible incident that occurred on Sproul Plaza earlier this week. According to the police, an unknown, unidentified assailant attacked a Berkeley student engaged in political advocacy. Let there be no mistake, we strongly condemn violence and harassment of any sort, for any reason. That sort of behavior is intolerable and has no place here. Our commitment to freedom of expression and belief is unwavering. At this point, we have no information indicating that the perpetrators are affiliated with the university, and I join our police department in urging anyone with information about the incident to come forward, so we can apprehend and bring the perpetrator to justice.
I want to make sure everyone is aware of services available on campus if you are in any way affected by these incidents...
I also urge you to read and understand our carefully crafted Principles of Community and trust that they will be a valuable guide to how we should treat our fellow community members.
Sincerely,
Carol Christ, Chancellor
Stephen C. Sutton Vice Chancellor, Student Affairs
Source: https://news.berkeley.edu/2019/02/21/a-message-from-campus-leaders-in-condemnation-of-violence/
The first incident seems to involve faculty in engineering and some joking, but apparently offensive, comments.
The second incident appears to involve a non-university victim at a table for a conservative cause and a non-university perpetrator.
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