Message from Chancellor Michael Drake regarding recent campus protests
I was appalled at the use of force by police against peaceful demonstrators at other campuses as seen in the media over the past few days. These actions violate our policies and procedures. Worse than that, they violate the well earned trust that our community has placed in our campus police. We understand that these actions have been condemned by UC President Mark Yudof, UC Berkeley Chancellor Robert Birgeneau, and UC Davis Chancellor Linda Katehi as well, and that the officers involved in the UC Davis incident have been placed on administrative leave pending a review.
We fully support student dissent on campus, it is an important part of the university learning environment, and a cornerstone of the political process in a healthy democracy. We work actively to protect the free speech rights of our students, faculty, staff and community members while maintaining a safe environment. We do this through constructive engagement and thoughtful enforcement of our policies. We partner in this effort with our campus police officers who are actively and sincerely committed to protecting the health and safety of demonstrators as well as bystanders.
President Yudof has promised a review of campus policies on all 10 UC campuses. We are collaborating fully.
We appreciate all of your efforts to keep UC Irvine a place where the broadest range of ideas can be shared and discussed in meaningful, productive and peaceful ways.