Silent Race Rally at UC Berkeley

Date: 3/5/2010 2:43 pm

About 200 hundred students took part in a silent demonstration at UC Berkeley Monday afternoon to draw attention to racial inequalities on campus and in the UC system. Students were galvanized by protests at UCLA and UC Irvine responding to a noose in the UC San Diego library and other racially charged incidents at the UCSD campus.

According to the UC Berkeley student newspaper the Daily Californian, student protestors linked arms in front of Slather Gate at the start of the protest, wearing all black, with black masks covering their mouths.

The protestors then moved to California Hall to deliver a letter to UC Berkeley Chancellor Robert Birgeneau outlining how recent racist actions on campus mirrored those that had occurred on campus over the past 10 years. Birgeneau was not on campus at the time.

"We did this in silence because we have been silenced, really, too long, and this time we made silence into a statement that we're not going to be disrespected and we are not going to be ignored," said protest participant Amber Booth in an interview with the Daily Californian.

Other students echoed the fear being articulated at UCSD.

"The campus is not a safe space for all students," said senior Lajuanda Asemota, vice president of Phi Nu Xi Multicultural Sorority.

In the letter to Birgeneau, protesters criticized the administration's response to recent racial tensions on campus as "dismissive and disappointing."

The letter also criticized last year's passage of California Proposition 209, which prevents public universities from using affirmative action in the admissions process. Black students now make up 3.2 percent of Berkeley's attendance, which the letter called "frighteningly" low.

On Feb. 24, Birgeneau and other school officials sent a campus-wide email criticizing the use of racial slurs and stereotypes on campus, and saying that "inclusion and equity," are part of the core values of the University.

"I am well aware of the fact that we have a number of students who don't feel entirely comfortable and included on campus," said Gibor Basri, Vice Chancellor for equity and inclusion. He agreed to meet with the protesters Monday evening.

More from the Daily Californian at UC Berkeley

Issue: Social Justice

Re: Silent Race Rally at UC Berkeley

Date: 5/4/2010 1:08 pm

UCB Chancellor Birgeneau Loss of Trust, Credibility

The UCB budget gap has grown to $150 million, and still the Chancellor is spending money that isn't there on expensive outside consultants. His reasons range from the need for impartiality to requiring the "innovative thinking, expertise, and new knowledge" the consultants would bring.

Does this mean that the faculty and management of a world-class research and teaching institution lack the knowledge, impartiality, innovation, and professionalism to come up with solutions? Have they been fudging their research for years? The consultants will glean their recommendations from interviewing faculty and the UCB management that hired them; yet solutions could be found internally if the Chancellor were doing the job HE was hired to do. Consultant fees would be far better spent on meeting the needs of students.

There can be only one conclusion as to why creative solutions have not been forthcoming from the professionals within UCB: Chancellor Birgeneau has lost credibility and the trust of the faculty as well as of the Academic Senate leadership that represents them. Even if the faculty agrees with the consultants' recommendations - disagreeing might put their jobs in jeopardy - the underlying problem of lost credibility and trust will remain.

Issue: Social Justice