University of California President Mark Yudof condemned recent incidents of campus intolerance during a March 24 special session of the U.C. Board of Regents in San Francisco.
“What we have witnessed in recent weeks are quite simply the worst acts of racism, intolerance and incivility I’ve seen on college campuses in recent years,” Yudof said. “There are no excuses for the behavior we witnessed.”
Yudof and the regents, meeting at the UCSF Mission Bay campus, discussed for approximately three hours ways to prevent ethnically and racially charged incidents like those that have occurred recently at U.C. Davis, U.C. San Diego and U.C. Irvine. They didn’t take any action, but promised to act soon.
Over the past two months, six swastikas have been discovered on the U.C. Davis campus — on a residence hall bulletin board, on the dorm room door of Jewish student and in public spaces.
“It breaks my heart to report the acts of hatred and intolerance committed on the Davis campus,” U.C. Davis Chancellor Linda Katehi said during the session, “a campus that is widely known for its exceptional civility.”
Katehi commended the U.C. Davis Police Department for its quick response and said campus authorities are “vigorously investigating” the incidents with the FBI.
At U.C. San Diego, a student hung a rope that resembled a noose in the campus’ main library, and fraternity students held an off-campus party called the “Compton Cookout” to mock Black History Month, according to NBC’s San Diego affiliate.
On the U.C. Irvine campus recently, hundreds of protestors converged on the administration building in support of 11 students who were arrested for disrupting a speech last month by Michael Oren, Israel’s ambassador for the United States.
The protest, convened by the Muslim Student Union and several other campus groups, was met by a counterdemonstration of about 60 people organized by local Jewish student groups.
At the March 24 meeting, a subtle line was drawn between the “ghetto” parties and swastikas soundly deplored by students, chancellors and regents alike, and the heckling of Oren at Irvine, which some speakers felt fell into the category of protected free speech.
“We stand in solidarity with the Irvine 11,” declared Victor Sanchez, president of the U.C. Student Association, in his opening words to the regents during the meeting.
Regent Sherry Lansing challenged U.C. Irvine Chancellor Michael Drake on the topic, asking whether Oren had been permitted to finish his speech. He had, Drake said, noting the history of Muslim-Jewish tensions at the university.
In his address to the regents, Drake underlined his deep dismay at the heckling of the Israeli ambassador, saying it crossed the line from free speech into “intolerable behavior.”
“Issues related to the Middle East conflict play themselves out on our campuses,” Drake said. “No matter which side you’re on, people benefit from learning tolerance and listening respectfully.”
Throughout the meeting, which streamed live online and was viewed at times by more than 800 people, regents offered their apologies to the students who were in attendance, and suggested ways to promote diversity on all U.C. campuses.
Katehi said she has sought guidance the past few weeks from the Anti-Defamation League, officials at the Davis and Sacramento Hillel, and rabbis with Simon Wies-enthal Center in Los Angeles.
She also will join rabbis at the Museum of Tolerance in L.A. for the Train-the-Trainer program, which provides diversity training. “We have to work to make Davis a truly hate-free campus,” Katehi said.
Yudof said he has asked campus authorities for incident reports so he can monitor the disciplinary proceedings of those involved, and he plans to review the student-proposed legislation on hate crimes.
Eddie Island, one of U.C.’s 18 appointed regents, blamed the recent incidents on the U.C. system’s admissions practices, adding they must be “challenged and changed” in an effort to allow more inclusion of minorities.
He also apologized to all students who were directly affected by or became aware of the campus intolerance.
“You don’t have to be an African American, Jewish or Latino to be hurt by this conduct,” Island said. “Something changed when I read about a noose hung in a library, a swastika being drawn on a door and ugly, racial epithets hurled at people. This hurts everyone and it’s our challenge to address it.”
Yudof said steps have been taken to re-evaluate the campus admissions process to make it a more “in-depth and fair” system that “effectively considers multiple factors beyond test scores and GPAs.”
JTA’s Sue Fishkoff contributed to this report.