UC Berkeley associate English professor Celeste Langan — who has been presented with criminal charges regarding her involvement in the Nov. 9 Occupy Cal protests — will step down as acting director of the campus Doreen B. Townsend Center for the Humanities.
Langan will be replaced in her post by campus Japanese professor Alan Tansman starting July 1 but will still oversee the center’s Discovery Fellows program, according to an announcement released by the campus Tuesday.
In an email, Langan said that she initially intended to serve in her capacity at the center only for the fall semester while Anthony Cascardi, the previous director, was on sabbatical. But when Cascardi was appointed dean of arts and humanities in the campus College of Letters and Sciences, Langan agreed to remain for the rest of the year, she said.
Although Langan has received significant attention since she became director of the center, she insisted that her position was in no way was affected by her arrest and trial and instead she chose not to apply for the job of full-time director.
Langan is one of 13 protesters — and the only professor — who has been charged because of her involvement in the Occupy Cal protests. During the Nov. 9 protest, Langan claims her hair was grabbed and she was forced to the ground by UCPD officers. The district attorney has charged her with resisting arrest, obstructing a public place and remaining at the scene of a riot.
“Ironically, perhaps, I was working on our proposal to the Mellon Foundation on the day I was arrested,” Langan wrote in the email. “But that’s the only connection between my service as Acting Director and my arrest at Occupy Cal.”
The next step in Langan’s court proceedings, her pretrial hearing, will take place Thursday morning at 9 a.m. at Wiley W. Manuel Courthouse in Oakland.
Charges filed from the Nov. 9 protests have met considerable condemnation and public outcry. The Berkeley Faculty Association began a petition that has garnered hundreds of signatures that asks for all charges against the protesters to be dropped.
The petition was forwarded to the district attorney’s office by Chancellor Robert Birgeneau and Vice Chancellor George Breslauer. Berkeley City Council voted Tuesday night to send a similar letter to campus administrators and the district attorney.
Comment Policy
Comments should remain on topic, concerning the article or blog post to which they are connected. Brevity is encouraged. Posting under a pseudonym is discouraged, but permitted. The Daily Cal encourages readers to voice their opinions respectfully in regard to the readers, writers and contributors of The Daily Californian. Comments are not pre-moderated, but may be removed if deemed to be in violation of this policy. Click here to read the full comment policy.
Professor Langan was my favorite teacher sat Cal, and she influenced very deeply my understanding of language and literature.
So now I remain not only grateful — but also proud of her.
Michael Moore (’93)
send her to gitmo
Ha, ha, ha, ha! Look at these little boys! Some little boy named “Tony M” says that Dr. Beezle “make[s] up outrageous sh*t and tr[ies] to pass it off as fact.” Isn’t that hilariously ironic? Isn’t it? What are you *talking* about, little boy? Where has Dr. Beezle made up “outrageous sh*t” and tried to pass it off as fact? One instance would suffice! Because if you can’t provide ONE instance, then you are hanging yourself by your own words!
And another little boy, “libsrclowns,” says that “Beezle is a video Clownboy.” What on earth does THAT mean? Do you just make up names for people who expose your ire as the vapid, aimless ire of the fearful and ignorant?
You little angry boys are just so, so funny!
You might want to google Dr Beezle. Inform yourself douche bag.
Well, we know the “model” that *lbsrclowns* follows: live in fear, obey, and brutalize when you can safely. I’d say we have Dwight K. Schrute here but this guy who has nothing better to do then make cheapshots on a daily basis from his home computer is not as funny, and certainly not as imaginative or bright. Enjoy your black-and-white world!
We know the model YOU follow: make up outrageous shit and try to pass it off as fact. Give it a rest, you’re not fooling anyone here.
Beezle is a video Clownboy who attempts to play in the real world. Nice try beezbot.
So when you have nothing reasonable to say, you write a response akin to one written by someone on drugs?
He sounded far more reasonable than the silly blather posted under the handle of Drbeezle, who projects his own psychological issues on others.
Such a model professor.