Things to Come

Given the demonstrations on Monday, it seems unlikely that the Regents meeting today will emerge unscathed. And the same can be said for graduation on Friday.

The new UCLA chancellor, whoever that is, is due to be unveiled at the Regents meeting. Since an interim chancellor is also scheduled to be unveiled, the new person presumably will not be taking over immediately after Chancellor Block retires on July 31st. But unless there is a long interval with an interim chancellor, the new permanent chancellor will have to hit the ground running. There won't be much time to work out the parameters of policy with regard to demonstrations, academic freedom, policing, etc. Current policy is essentially embedded in a statement put out Tuesday by AVC Braziel:

Dear Bruin Community:

I write to share an update on demonstration activity on campus yesterday, which resulted in violence, destruction of property and the blocking of student access to parts of campus.

This was completely unacceptable. The demonstration activity disregarded our values as a community, violated our campus policies and broke the law. These actions injured people, threatened the safety of our community and vandalized our campus. These actions also prevented students from completing their final exams.

At around 3:15 p.m., activity started at the top of the steps leading to Royce Quad, where a group of people dyed the water in Shapiro Fountain red, used water-filled barriers and chicken wire to block the area, used amplified sound, and set up tents and canopies. When this group of individuals was told to disperse, they moved to Kerckhoff patio carrying wooden shields. At Kerckhoff patio, the group proceeded to vandalize property with permanent red paint and erected barriers that blocked students and the public from accessing that part of campus. At the same time, another group at Moore Hall disrupted final exams.

When the group on Kerckhoff patio was told to disperse, they moved to an area near Dodd Hall. This resulted in some students having to miss finals because they were blocked from entering classrooms. Additionally, some students had to be evacuated in the middle of taking their final exams.

Throughout the evening, there were also violent attacks on safety personnel and law enforcement, resulting in at least six injuries to UCPD personnel and other safety officers. One security guard was left with his head bleeding after he was struck with an object. Simply put, these acts of non-peaceful protest are abhorrent and cannot continue.

During these events, 27 individuals were arrested. We are still determining which arrestees are not members of the UCLA community. Students who were arrested will be subject to disciplinary actions based on UCOP guidance, which could include a campus exclusion that will prevent them from being on campus to take finals or participate in commencement ceremonies.

UCLA is firmly committed to protecting the free expression rights of everyone in our community, regardless of their views, as long as demonstrations are peaceful and follow guidelines for the appropriate time, place and manner for campus demonstrations. Yesterday’s protest was not peaceful. These guidelines support advocacy that does not jeopardize safety or disrupt university operations.

Disruptions and protests are expected at various locations on campus through the end of our commencement ceremonies. Rights to free expression will be protected, but we will not tolerate violence. Protecting UCLA faculty, staff, students and visitors and creating an environment conducive to teaching, learning, working and living continues to be our priority. The campus community belongs to all of us and we must model the respect we expect to receive from others.

Sincerely,

Rick Braziel

Associate Vice Chancellor for Campus Safety

Source: https://newsroom.ucla.edu/condemning-mondays-violence-on-campus.

Will the Braziel approach be continued under the new regime? (As we have noted, the new approach seems to follow the policy proposed by the now-suspended police chief.)

Even if the Israel-Gaza War comes to an end soon, there will still be remaining issues from that conflict. And there is a presidential election coming up in the fall. 

A compilation of social media videos of the events of Monday can be seen at the link below:

Or direct to https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ggNHGKvpA2I.

It is noteworthy that, at least on the various videos gathered from social media of Monday's events, union picket signs were not in evidence. As we have noted in prior postings, although in the period before the strike was temporarily halted by a court decision, the apparently off-script intertwining of the strike and Israel-Gaza War issues tended to undermine the union's position that the student-worker strike was employment-related. At least at UCLA, perhaps following legal advice, the separation of the two was made on Monday. As of Tuesday, despite learned statements about the illegality of the court order, nothing has been said about filing an appeal.

As we noted on Sunday, if and when the parties decide to drop the legalistic approach involving courts and PERB, there is a way to settle the dispute: 

https://uclafacultyassociation.blogspot.com/2024/06/there-is-way-to-settle-current-strike.html.