Wow! The campus police made a big mistake. Students at the
University of California at Davis were pepper sprayed as they sat peaceful arms
linked together protesting non-violently. And if being pepper sprayed isn’t bad
enough, they were also jabbed with police batons. Thank goodness for everyone
shooting footage because the public can have an eyewitness account of the
unnecessary act of the campus police. The officers who sprayed the students
were suspended with pay and according to reports, Chancellor Linda Katehi, is
the person who ordered the police to use the pepper spray. Once word got out of
this, students and some faculty called for her resignation. Katehi issued a
statement saying she would form a committee to investigate what happened and
report to the campus community within 90 days.
What started the whole ordeal was police were ordered to
remove the students and their tents from the premises. The students were part
of the Occupy movement, in which they were protesting against economic inequality,
tuition increases, budget cuts at the University of California, and interestingly
enough police conduct. The students ignored the request by the police to
disperse, so then the students were peppered sprayed and were physically
removed one-by-one. Katehi called for a review of student conduct policy to
find out if the police did or did not act in accordance with policy. And if
they did, then she wants to change the policy so that students can protest
within reason and not worry about being harmed by campus police.
Katehi is drawing much criticism from everyone. The
president of the University of California system issued a statement saying the
incident was appalling and there needs to be an effort made to ensure peaceful
protests go unharmed. On Saturday, the day after the incident, students’ anger
rose to which they protested against Katehi by lining the walkway from the
office to her car as she exited the campus. Students did not say a word they
just stood around her in silence. Katehi did not acknowledge them at all. Katehi
issued a statement saying she would address the students in the coming days and
that she needs to regain the students’ trust, so the first thing she did was
place the chief of police on administrative leave Monday morning after
gathering more information. Even observers in the community who do not agree
with the Occupy movement, showed sympathy toward the students and agree that the
police were out of line with over aggressive actions.
In closing, it will be interesting to see if Katehi retains
her position. I feel she has a lot of explaining to do and she obviously does
not understand student protest. If she was the person who ordered the use of
the aggressive action by campus police, she should be removed or state that she
was wrong in her decision. She has yet to do either. I think what she should
have done was went out to where the students were protesting and speak to them
as her students instead of stereotyping them as an out-of- control mob. One
would think that she would have student affairs qualities mastered by now to be
able to reach out or show compassion for the students. This was a good lesson
for her of what not to do during a non-violent student protest.
