TMT

To myself and many other students, Berkeley is a place to get involved in cutting-edge research. However, it’s necessary for us to consider the impacts of the university’s research tools and the implications of where the UC system’s money goes.

The UC Board of Regents discussed plans for diverse hiring and the future of the Maunakea telescope during its Thursday meeting.

This year, student organizers have begun to call out university relationships that run counter to campus values — and they are persisting through the pandemic.

The UC system has invested more than $68 million into the Thirty Meter Telescope project as of April 30, according to a financial report from the UC Office of the President.

Student advocates visited the UC Office of the President in Oakland on March 2 to demand the UC system to divest from the Thirty Meter Telescope project on Maunakea and direct funds toward a cost-of-living adjustment for graduate student employees.

On Saturday, protesters rallied at California Memorial Stadium for the “Protect Mauna Kea Rally” against the UC system's involvement in the construction of the Thirty Meter Telescope, or TMT, in Hawaii and UC Berkeley football’s Polynesian Heritage Celebration.

There are many strong opinions about the Thirty Meter Telescope, or TMT, project on Maunakea on Hawaiʻi Island, and it is important that everyone know the facts. Unfortunately, an April 2 op-ed by members of UC Berkeley’s Indigenous Americas Working Group calling for the UC system to stop funding construction of the TMT contained inaccurate information that needs a response.

We call on students, staff, faculty and community to join the efforts to protect Mauna Kea and to collectively demand that the University of California end its partnership with this project. We call on our community to heed the words of Mauna Kea leader Pua Case when she declares “this time we speak for the mountain and the mountain says no.”