As we know the Davis Chancellor addressed the
5,000 participants at the rally held today on the UCD quad: the full 2:44 minutes of her emotional speech can be viewed
here. She apologized for Friday's "events" and vowed to work to re-gain the students' trust. That cannot have been easy, and it certainly took courage. But equally important is what she did
not say. For instance, here is something many were expecting to hear:
The Chancellor will ask the Yolo County DA to drop all charges agianst the arrested students.
This is so obvious it is a no brainer, and yet nothing was said in this respect. Here is another one:
The Chancellor will make sure that all riot control equipment on campus is removed from possession of UC PD.
Again, nothing in this direction. Or one more:
The Chancellor will make an explicit commitment to safeguard free speech and other constitutional rights on campus.
The list could go on, including working with the students to reverse tuition increases, working with faculty to restore shared governance, respect the right of workers and staff to unionize and engage in collective bargaining. But none of that was forthcoming today. Perhaps tomorrow?
Katehi was recently a member of a body called the International Advisory Committee on Greek Higher Education.
ReplyDeleteThe findings section of the report issued by this committee contains the following gems:
“Greek university campuses are not secure. While the Constitution allows University leaders to protect campuses against elements that seek political instability, Rectors have been reluctant to exercise their rights and responsibilities, and to make decisions needed in order to keep faculty, staff and students safe. As a result, University leaders and faculty have not been able to be good stewards of the facilities they have been entrusted with by the public.”
“The politicization of the campuses – and specifically the politicization of students – represents a beyond-reasonable involvement in the political process. This is contributing to an accelerated degradation of higher education.”
The full report, in English, can be found on the Greek Ministry of Education website at http://www.minedu.gov.gr/english/education/12-04-11-report-of-the-international-committee-on-higher-education-in-greece.html