As of 1:30 pm today, the Cal chancellor has responded to video postings and other input on police actions at the Sproul plaza protests last week. The police use of force on Nov. 9 is now being reviewed, and the university is granting "amnesty from action under the Student Code of Conduct to all Berkeley students who were arrested and cited solely for attempting to block the police in removing the Occupy Cal encampment..."
Text of Chancellor Birgeneau's letter to the campus community:
Dear Cal Campus Community:
I returned to Berkeley yesterday after a week-long trip to Seoul, Tokyo and Shanghai
where we successfully advanced some important new partnerships that will benefit our
campus.
While away, I remained in intermittent contact with Provost George Breslauer and
other members of our leadership team and was kept informed, as much as possible,
about the Occupy Cal activities on campus. However, it was only yesterday that I
was able to look at a number of the videos that were made of the protests on
November 9. These videos are very disturbing. The events of last Wednesday are
unworthy of us as a university community. Sadly, they point to the dilemma that we
face in trying to prevent encampments and thereby mitigate long-term risks to the
health and safety of our entire community.
Most certainly, we cannot condone any excessive use of force against any members of
our community. I have asked Professor Jesse Choper, our former Dean of Law, and
current Chair of the Police Review Board (PRB) to launch immediately a review of the
police actions of last Wednesday and Thursday morning. As is normal process,
University Police Chief Mitch Celaya is concurrently undertaking an operational
review of last week's events. He has requested that it be conducted by a senior
member of the command staff at one of our sister UC campuses. This report will be
provided to the PRB. I am confident that Professor Choper will provide a fair and
balanced judgment as speedily as possible.
We believe that we can best move forward by granting amnesty from action under the
Student Code of Conduct to all Berkeley students who were arrested and cited solely
for attempting to block the police in removing the Occupy Cal encampment on
Wednesday, November 9. We will do so immediately.
I believe that as a campus community, we can and must join together and focus on our
common goals - inducing the state to reinvest in public education, working to repeal
Prop. 13, finding a way to reverse Prop. 209, and instituting reforms that will help
California regain its status as the door to the American Dream through public higher
education. Thanks to the efforts of our students who worked effectively with
Assemblyman Cedillo, myself and other members of our campus community, we were able
to ensure that the legislature in Sacramento passed AB 130 and AB 131 which Gov.
Brown ultimately signed. This example of successful and peaceful activism with
students and campus leaders working together can guide us in how we can collaborate
to effect real change that will benefit us all. We share the aspirations of the
Occupy movement for a better America. I am confident that as a campus community we
will find a peaceful and productive way forward.
Robert J. Birgeneau
Chancellor, UC Berkeley
