Dear Chancellor Denton and EVC Kliger:

We know that this has been an extremely difficult week for you and for the university.

We also know that each of you as well as others in the administration, including Associate Vice Chancellor Jean Marie Scott, have worked very hard in an attempt to negotiate a satisfactory resolution to the confrontation with the students who organized Tent University at the base of campus. We acknowledge these efforts.

However, we express our deepest distress at the decision to call in the police to arrest students on Monday evening. Based on observations by those of us present at various times during the evening, and reports from others, we believe the use of police was unwarranted and seriously endangered the safety of the students at Tent University and threatened to escalate into a wider conflagration. It was also very disturbing to us that police were brought from the Berkeley campus in riot gear to handle what was fundamentally a peaceful gathering because of concerns about “camping,� a matter which could have been easily handled with simple citations or other non-confrontational police presence, as well as continued negotiations. We are also distressed at the police violence and the numbers of students injured, some of whom are in our classes. Tent Universities have been established at a number of campuses nation-wide and no such police action was initiated.

The withdrawal of the police on Monday night contributed greatly to the restoration of calm.

We urge you now to do four things:

First, we believe that in a spirit of reconciliation the administration should do everything possible to ensure that criminal charges not be brought against those arrested on Monday night.

Second, we urge that the administration take no disciplinary action against those arrested or any of the other students involved in organizing Tent University.

Third, we think it would be helpful if the administration and the faculty Senate established policies and guidelines together for responding to student protests, and that in the future the administration work with a Senate committee in such situations.

Finally, we encourage the campus community to engage in broad substantive discussions about the educational issues raised by the students who organized Tent University, including fee increases, financial aid, the further enhancement of diversity at all levels of the university, and the complex meanings of freedom of speech and academic freedom.

Very sincerely yours,

Christopher Connery, Literature
Bettina Aptheker, Women's Studies
Nathaniel Mackey, Literature
Anjali Arondekar, Women's Studies
Paul Skenazy, Literature & Provost, Kresge College
Shelly Errington, Anthropology
Roz Spafford, Writing Program, Provost, College 8
Farnaz Fatemi, Writing Program
Gail Hershatter, History
Louisa Nygaard, Literature
Karen Yamashita, Literature/Creative Writing
Carla Freccero, Literature
Conn Hallinan, Writing Program
Raoul Birnbaum, Art History
Roger Bunch, Kresge College
Carolyn Martin Shaw, Anthropology
Helene Moglen, Literature
Richard Terdiman, Literature
Warren Sack, Film & Digital Media
Nancy Stoller, Community Studies
John Lynch, Classics
Sharon Kinoshita, Literature
Emily Honig, Women's Studies
Vilashini Cooppan, Literature
Margo Hendricks
Don Rothman, Writing
Earl Jackson, Jr., Literature
Paul Ortiz, Community Studies
Heather Bullock, Psychology
Shelley Stamp, Film and Digital Media
Slawek Tulaczyk, Earth Sciences
Maria Schonbek, Mathematics Department
Robert Boltje, Mathematics
William Marotti, History
Daniel L. Selden, Literature
Rosa Linda Fregoso, Latin American/Latino Studies
William Marotti, History
Maria Schonbek, Mathematics Department
Isebill V Gruhn Politics Emerita
Nameera Akhtar, Psychology
David Sweet, History (emeritus)
Scott Lokey, Chemistry
Kirsten Silva Gruesz, Literature
Nameera Akhtar, Psychology
Ben Crow, Sociology
Paul Lubeck
Neferti Tadiar, History of Consciousness
Eli Hollander, Film & Digital Media
Virginia Jansen, History of Art and Visual Culture
Lourdes Martinez-Echazabal
Rebecca Braslau, Chemistry
Nameera Akhtar, Psychology
H. Marshall Leicester, Jr., Literature
Campbell Leaper, Psychology
James Clifford, History of Consciousness
Ben Crow, Sociology
Erik Asphaug, Earth Sciences
Radhika Mongia
John Brown Childs, Sociology
Jennifer A. Gonzalez, History of Art
Radhika Mongia, Women's Studies
Stephen Gliessman, Environmental Studies
Ravi Rajan, Environmental Studies
Stephen Wright, Psychology
Elizabeth S. Abrams, Writing Program
Melanie DuPuis, Sociology
Norma Klahn, Literature
Julie Guthman, Community Studies
Andrew Szasz, Sociology
Norma Klahn, Literature
Marcia Millman, Sociology
Ted Holman, Chemistry and Biochemistry
Per F. Gjerde, Psychology
Karlton Hester, Music
Donna M. Hunter, History of Art and Visual Culture
Alma Martinez, Theatre Arts
Pamela Roby, Sociology
WILLIAM G. SCOTT, Chemistry and Biochemistry
Hugh Raffles, Anthropology
Cynthia Polecritti, History
Rob Wilson, Literature
Annette Clear, Politics
Greta Gibson, Education
Mary Beth Pudup, Community Studies
Judith Habicht-Mauche, Anthropology
Ronnie D. Lipschutz, Politics
Lori Kletzer, Economics
Richard Wasserstrom, Prof. Emeritus, Philosophy
E.G. Crichton, Art
Dean Mathiowetz, Politics
John O. Jordan, Literature
Juan Poblete, Literature
Daniel Press, Environmental Studies
Su-hua Wang, Psychology
Bruce Levine, History
Eleonora Pasotti, Politics
Roger Schoenman, Politics
Angela Y. Davis, History of Consciousness
David Wellman, Community Studies
Lincoln Taiz, MCD Biology
Lawrence Andrews Film & Digital Media
Avril Thorne, Psychology
Gabriela Arredondo, Latin America/Latino Studies
Karen Bassi, Classics
Herman Gray, Chair, Sociology
Craig Reinerman, former chair, Sociology
Susanna Jonas, Latin America/Latino Studies
Andrew Szasz, Sociology
Hiroshi Fukurai, Sociology
Jorge Aladro-Font, Literature
Julie Bettie, Sociology
Jonathan Beecher, History
Zack Schlesinger, Physics
Carol Freeman, Writing
Zack Schlesinger, Physics
Catherine M. Soussloff, History of Art
Zack Schlesinger, Physics
Margaret FitzSimmons, Environmental Studies
Arthur Fischer, Mathematics
Alan Richards, Environmental Studies
Sharon Daniel, Film & Digital Media
Nancy N. Chen, Anthropology
Margaret Brose, Literature
Eliabeth Stephens, Art
Alan Christy, History
Karen Bassi
Pamela Perry, Community Studies
Alice Yang Murray, History
Verónica Feliu, Languages
Gildas Hamel, Language
Brenda Barcelo, Languages
David Brundage, Community Studies
Alvaro Romero Marco
Alvaro Romero Marco, language
Judith Harris-Frisk, Language Program
Paco Ramirez, Language Program
Jody Greene, Literature
Hervé Le Mansec, Languages
Mary-Kay Gamel, Literature
Karen C. McNally
Karen C. McNally, Prof. Emerita, Earth Sciences
Karen C. McNally, Prof. Emerita, Earth Sciences
Robert Weil, Sociology and College Eight
Brian A. Catlos, History
John Isbister, Economics
Anna Tsing, Anthropology
Angela Elsey, Languages
Ariel A. Pérez
Sakae Fujita, Languages
Vanita Seth, Politics
David Brundage, Community Studies
Michael Warren, Literature (Emeritus)
Harry Berger Jr
Harry Berger Jr., Literature and Art History (Emeritus)
Harry Berger Jr., Literature and Art History (Emeritus)
Harry Berger Jr., Literature and Art History (Emeritus)
Giulia Centineo, Languages
Donna J Haraway, Professor, History of Consciousness
Dan Scripture, Writing Program
George T. Amis, English Literature (Emeritus)
Tara D Fouch
Leslie Lopez, Writing Program
Noriko Aso, History
Jacquelyn Levesque
Jennifer Anderson, Environmental Studies
Audrey E. Stanley, Professor Emerita of Theater Arts
Harry Berger Jr, Literature and Art History (Emeritus)
Diane Gifford-Gonzalez, Anthropology
Ken Kletzer, Economics
Margaret Fusari, Environmental Studies
Margarita Azmitia, Psychology
Sarah Rabkin, Environmental Studies
Ellen Newberry, Writing Program
Dana Frank, History
Roger Anderson, Chemistry and Biochemistry
Patrick McKercher, Writing
Megan Thomas, Politics
Wally Goldfrank, Sociology & LALS
Susan Gillman, Literature
Pat Zavella, Latin American and Latino Studies
Deborah Letourneau, Environmental Studies
Ana Maria Seara, Languages
Jeffrey W. Knopf, Politics
Andrew Schiffrin, Environmental Studies
Fred Kuttner, Physics
Linda Werner, Computer Science
Francis M. Gravier, Library
Greg Landau, LALS
Robert Meister, Politics
Justin Paulson, History of Consciousness
Linda L. Ivey
Daniel Schwartz, Cowell College & College Eight
David Z. Londow
Sheila Crane, History of Art & Visual Culture
Ruth Hoffman
William Sullivan, MCD Biology
Nora Megharbi. Languages
Jude Todd, Writing
Catherine Byrne, Psychology
John Borrego, LALS
Miriam Elliis, Languages
Lisa Mastramico, Community Studies
Andrea Steiner, Community Studies
Julianne Burton-Carvajal
Julianne Burton-Carvajal, Literature
Tandy Beal
Bruce N. Cooperstein, Mathematics
María Morris, Language Program
William H. Friedland, Community Studies & Sociology, Emeritus
Erica Gillingham
Jennifer Dyer-Seymour, Psychology
Connie Kreemer, Theater Arts
Nancy Krusoe, Writing
Carmen Ramos-Castro
George Lipsitz, American Studies
Tricia Rose, American Studies
Maria Cecilia Freeman, Writing Program
Jocelyn Hoy, Philosophy
Micah Perks, Literature
M. Victoria González Pagani, Language Program
Miriam Hitchcock, Art
Gabriela Sandoval, Sociology
Kirsten Silva Gruesz, Literature
Kimberley Miner
Eric Porter, American Studies

hybrid.ucsc.edu/cgi-bin/TentU/letter.pl