Dear UC Merced Faculty Colleagues,
We are writing to you with great concern to inform faculty about an incident that occurred on Sunday, May 18th before the SSHA graduation ceremony. One of our faculty colleagues was removed from the commencement procession line by plain-clothes police officers following a brief, informal conversation with President Drake, who was visiting as the commencement speaker.
The Incident
The facts, as confirmed with the faculty member involved, are as follows:
In the robing room, prior to commencement, the faculty member encountered President Drake at the refreshments station. After introducing himself and shaking hands with President Drake, the faculty member shared that many faculty are concerned about the repression of anti-genocide protesters, particularly at UCLA. President Drake declared that it was an inappropriate time and place to address the issue. After the faculty member suggested that it was appropriate given that the subject involved a genocide, President Drake became irate and yelled at the faculty member, who remained quiet. Chancellor Muñoz stepped in to end the interaction and the faculty member left to line up for the commencement procession. As the faculty member exited the Administration Building in the procession line, two men in suits with police badge lapel pins followed him and asked him to step out of the line. They informed him that he could not go into commencement area and could not re-enter the Administration Building to drop off his rented regalia. A staff member came to retrieve the regalia. After that, the police told the faculty member he was free to go; he proceeded to his car and left campus.
Following the ceremony, multiple faculty—including Faculty Association leadership and members—approached Chancellor Muñoz, Provost Dumont, Vice Provost For Academic Personnel Hansford, SSHA Dean Arriola, and UCM Senate Chair Mitchell. Concerningly, leadership indicated that, although they heard that someone had been removed, they had limited knowledge of what had taken place, who the police officers were, and the source of the decision to use law enforcement to remove the faculty. This points to the need for a thorough review of the decision by both the administration and faculty.
Our Position
As with any attempt to stifle the freedom of speech of or use law enforcement unnecessarily on UC Merced community members, we unequivocally condemn the action. The removal of this faculty member by law enforcement was needless, overzealous, and a violation of faculty trust. Moreover, it creates a concerning precedent. It is alarming that the administration would deploy law enforcement in response to something a faculty member says in a short conversation simply because their comments are uncomfortable or inconvenient.
Call for Investigation
We call for a thorough investigation into the decision to remove the faculty and the decision to do so with law enforcement. Specifically, we ask the Office of the Chancellor (perhaps via the Provost) and the academic senate to conduct investigations and provide a report to the full faculty on:
The decision-making process:
- Who made the request to remove the faculty member from the procession
- Which parties were involved in the decision
- What form of communication regarding the decision took place (e.g., verbal, written)
- Whether other options were considered and, if so, why they were not used
Administrative knowledge:
- Which UCM leadership or staff were informed of the decision or provided an update after the faculty member was removed
- What information was communicated up and down the chain of command
The involvement of law enforcement:
- Who made the decision to seek law enforcement assistance to conduct the removal rather than pursue alternative approaches
- Which specific law enforcement agency was called in to remove the faculty member (they confirmed to the faculty member that they were police, but did not indicate the agency)
Policy considerations:
- Which specific campus policies were used to make the decision. Because the incident involved a short conversation, we suspect it was very much outside of the Expressive Activities and Assembly policy (which was not followed, likely because it did not apply).
- If specific campus policies were not used, what protocol was used to make this decision
We also expect that the administration will:
- Ensure that this faculty member will not be punished or retaliated against in any way
- Establish a clear, specific policy to ensure that faculty rights are not violated in the future
- Outline and implement accountability measures for this type of inappropriate response
Conclusion
Commencement is one of the most celebratory days of the year at UC Merced. Faculty help make graduation what it is: a momentous and meaningful celebration of the successes of our students. We are disappointed that administrators would take such an unwarranted, drastic step on such a celebratory day, and hope they can provide a full account of the decision to the faculty.
As we spend our summers preparing for another exciting year of teaching, mentoring, and engaging our students in research, we also look forward to the critical conversations with UC Merced leadership needed to ensure that faculty’s freedom of speech and expression are not only protected but celebrated as core to UC Merced’s educational mission.
In solidarity,
UCMFA Executive Board
cc:
Chancellor Juan Sánchez Muñoz
Provost Betsy Dumont
Vice Provost For Academic Personnel Tom Hansford
SSHA Dean Leo Arriola
