When Occupy came to Cal in fall 2011 and shook up the campus, many UC Berkeley students were gripped by rousing speeches by professor Robert Reich and marches along major Berkeley streets. But many also bore witness to arrests of professors and viral videos of students assaulted by the police.
With word last week that a number of the officials involved in crafting the administrative response to the Occupy Cal protests are seeking to be dismissed from the civil suit alleging their complicity in the brutal police reaction to the nonviolent demonstrations of that autumn, it appears some are determined to close that sordid chapter of our campus’s history once and for all.
Campus spokesperson Janet Gillmore has said the campus officials, including former chancellor Robert Birgeneau, were “legally justified” in their actions, which included a statement from Birgeneau that students linking arms was “not non-violent civil disobedience.” When the best defense is that beating students was “legally justified,” then these officials have implicitly acknowledged what they did was morally reprehensible yet have decided to move on without legitimately engaging the students affected by the trauma.
While Birgeneau and others may be off the hook for the legal ramifications of their actions, that they have yet to be held accountable is tragic and disturbing.
In the event of another protest, perhaps one on the current mess in Syria, will the administration step up and guarantee students’ right to protest without harassment from the police? Will the university hold its officials responsible for allowing students to suffer broken bones at the hands of police batons? If recent history is any indication, most likely not.
Chancellor Nicholas Dirks, from the limited evidence available, at least seems cognizant of this troubling reality. The pertinent question, though, is not whether his sympathies lie with the protesting students or with the administration. We need to know, in the event of another protest, whether the actions he takes will ensure the security of the students and professors protesting.
If we’re lucky, he’s learned from the mistakes of his predecessors. Otherwise, the message of Occupy Cal was that student safety is not guaranteed, especially if you’re interested in standing up for your rights.