Photo from a May 2011 appearance on C-SPAN where Segal discussed lack of
employment opportunities for new graduates and the crush of student loan debt.
Matthew Segal, President of the youth empowerment organization, Our Time, with more than 300,000 members, lent his voice to the chorus of student, youth, parent and faculty members calling upon Chancellor Linda Katehi to step down. Previously the UC Davis Faculty Association board called the incident a "gross failure of leadership" and demanded Katehi resign. Segal's press release can be found here.
Is Apathy Is What Is Expected Of Today’s Youth?
As the founder of one of America’s largest youth empowerment organizations, I am frequently asked to defend my generation against charges of apathy from pundits and politicians. Many of these elders love to brand us as lazy, uninterested, spoiled, and too self-absorbed to speak out and participate in the civic process.
Yet when police chemically burn the eyes and subsequently hospitalize students who peacefully protest at UC Davis, it sends a message that apathy is indeed what is expected from us after all. If apathy was not what was expected from us, why would the police feel threatened by a few dozen students sitting down with their arms crossed? Why would the Chancellor of UC Davis call non-violent demonstration a “public safety concern?”
As President and co-founder of OurTime.org with over 300,000 members nationwide, I fully back the statement released yesterday by the UC Davis Faculty Association. Chancellor Katehi ought to resign immediately.
Recently, Segal testified before Congress on November 14 about the chilling effect new voter registration laws would have on the youth's ability to participate in the electoral process.
The Change.org petition has surpassed 50,000 signatures. I was thrilled to see it embedded in a New York Times article yesterday. Keep it up.
Update: This is good news, from the UK Guardian, the best source for Americans to get swift and accurate coverage about the Occupy Wall Street movement.
The University of California, Davis has placed its police chief on administrative leave after campus police deployed pepper-spray at close range on students during a protest on Friday.
UC Davis said early on Monday that it was necessary to place police chief Annette Spicuzza on administrative leave to restore trust and calm tensions.