UCLA Department of Sociology’s Response to the Administration's Failures over Gaza Solidarity Encampment

[signatures as of May 10, 2024]


SUBJECT: UCLA Department of Sociology’s Response to the Administration's Failures over Gaza Solidarity Encampment


TO:


UC President Michael V. Drake


UCLA Chancellor Gene D. Block


UCLA Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost Darnell Hunt


UCLA Dean of Graduate Division Susan Ettner


UC Board of Regents Chair Richard Leib


cc. UCLA Department of Sociology Chair Edward T. Walker



We, members of the UCLA Department of Sociology, condemn the University’s actions regarding the UCLA Gaza Solidarity Encampment. The UCLA administration failed to protect peaceful student demonstrations and then enabled police violence against these students, deeply disrupting campus operations. Some of us were present during the events on the nights of April 30th–May 1st and May 1st–May 2nd. 

UCLA students had been peacefully protesting in solidarity with the people of Gaza in an encampment on Royce Quad since April 25th. But on April 30th, UC President Michael Drake called the encampment “unlawful,” and UCLA Chancellor Gene Block followed suit, calling it “unauthorized.” That night, unaffiliated counter-protesters attacked the encampment with rods, fireworks, and chemical weapons. At least fifteen people were injured, according to a conservative estimate by a university official, while protestors report that around a hundred people were injured and twenty-five were sent to the hospital. UCPD, private security, and later LAPD and California Highway Patrol (CHP) allowed violent counter-protesters to remain on site for hours on end, and eventually focused on containing the encampment rather than arresting aggressors. Meanwhile, student protestors at the encampment withstood the attacks with restraint and largely nonviolent discipline.

Instead of protecting peaceful protestors, the UCLA administration resolved to forcibly remove the encampment with UCPD, the Los Angeles Sheriff's Department (LASD), LAPD, and CHP on May 1st. These police forces locked students out of our beloved Haines Hall—home of the Sociology and Anthropology departments, and the Ralph J. Bunche Center for African American Studies’ Library and Media Center—in preparation for their violent operation. The police shot rubber bullets, flares, and flash-bang devices, destroyed camp infrastructure, and violently attacked protestors. Students for Justice Palestine (SJP) reported five people shot in the head with rubber bullets. Some of our Sociology colleagues were shot. LAPD has reported 210 people arrested so far. 

The UCLA administration’s choices thus subjected UCLA students to two nights of violence on the campus they call home. Chancellor Block and President Drake failed to protect and support students, the right to protest, and campus safety. Their actions exacerbated violence against peaceful student protests. In no uncertain terms, we reiterate: students have the right to assemble, speak, protest, and be safe on their own campus. We reject attempts to stigmatize student support for Palestinian lives as violent or antisemitic. We are disheartened by the UCLA officials’ attempt to negotiate with protestors without concrete steps to address students’ thoughtful demands. Suppressing student movements for peace facilitates continued, US-sponsored violence against Palestinians, which has already destroyed every university in Gaza and killed many of its faculty, staff, students, and administrators. 

Following UCLA’s failure to prevent or stop the violence against members of the university community and its endorsement of violence to suppress peaceful protests, we demand that the administration take the following steps:

As faculty, instructors, students and workers of the Sociology Department, we cannot sit idly by as our campus disregards us and our students’ right to mobilize against injustice. UCLA leadership has shamefully made this campus unsafe for all by allowing violent agitators and a militarized police force to wreak havoc on our campus. We cannot learn, teach, or produce knowledge in an environment that disregards the fundamental safety, security, and civil rights of ourselves and our students. We, the undersigned, will not accept business as usual until the above demands are met. 

Signed,

[527 signatures]



Faculty and Staff 


Alden H. Young, Associate Professor

Alesia Montgomery, Assistant Professor

Aliza Luft, Assistant Professor

Beth Ribet, Lecturer

Cecilia Menjivar, Professor and Dorothy L. Meier Social Equities Chair

César J. Ayala, Professor

Ching Kwan Lee, Professor

Chris Herring, Assistant Professor

Chris Tilly, Professor

Christopher M. Wegemer, Lecturer

Desi Small-Rodriguez, Assistant Professor

Gail Kligman, Distinguished Professor

Giovanni Rossi, Assistant Professor

Hannah Landecker, Professor

Hiram Beltran-Sanchez, Associate Professor

Isaac Speer, Lecturer

Jason S. Sexton, Lecturer

Jeffrey Guhin, Associate Professor

Kara Placek, Lecturer

Liz Koslov, Assistant Professor

Marcus Anthony Hunter, Professor, Scott Waugh Endowed Chair in the Division of the Social Sciences

Mark Jepson, Continuing Lecturer

Michael Mann, Distinguished Research Professor Emeritus

Rebecca Jean Emigh, Professor

Richard Andalon, Lecturer

Rodolfo Alvarez, Professor Emeritus

Roger Waldinger, Distinguished Professor

Rogers Brubaker, Distinguished Professor

Ruben Hernandez-Leon, Professor

Sherry Larkins, Lecturer

Stefan Timmermans, Professor

Steven Clayman, Professor

Terri Anderson, Continuing Lecturer

Victor Agadjanian, Professor

Vilma Ortiz, Professor

Zeynep Korkman, Assistant Professor

Zsuzsa Berend, Academic Administrator

Luz Maria Torres, Staff

Teresa Sanchez, Staff, Chief Administrative Officer



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Acton Jiashi Feng, PhD Student

Ahyeon Cho, PhD Student

Allison Madia, PhD Student

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Andrea Zhu, PhD Student

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Andrew Malmuth, PhD Student

Anne Lin, PhD Student

Anthony Shu, PhD Student

Antwann Michael Simpkins, PhD Student

Aya Konishi, PhD Student

Bowei Hu, PhD Student

Brianna McKenna, PhD Student

Carla Salazar Gonzalez, PhD Student

Caroline Reilly, PhD Student

Catherine Crooke, PhD Student

Cesar Bowley Castillo, PhD Student

Charlotte Abel, PhD Student

Christina Chica, PhD Student

Christina Wilmot, PhD Student

Claire Yujie Ji, PhD Student

Daniel Chai, PhD Student

Deja Goodwin, PhD Student

Durana Saydee, PhD Student

Evan Cui, PhD Student

Gabriel Suchodolski, PhD Student

Gilad Wenig, PhD Student

Grace Vu, PhD Student

Hanna Jun, PhD Student

Hsiu-yu Yang, PhD Student

Hunter Sagaskie, PhD Student

Irene Del Mastro, PhD Student

Jason Contino, PhD Student

Jennifer Uribe, PhD Student

Joelle Rosenberg, PhD Student

Johanna Hernández-Pérez, PhD Student

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Leah Jacobson, PhD Student

Lillian Cheeks, PhD Student

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Luis Manuel Olguin, PhD Student

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Marina López, PhD Student

Maureen Cowhey, PhD Student

Michael Courville, PhD Student

Michelle Marinello, PhD Student

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Nada Ali Ramadan, PhD Student

Nanum Jeon, PhD Student

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Nihal Kayali, PhD Student

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Shibing Zhou, PhD Student

Sima Ghaddar, PhD Student

Stephanie Zhang, PhD Student

Summer Lopez Colorado, PhD Student

Surya Kumar, PhD Student

Taylor Aquino, PhD Student

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Vivek Ramakrishnan, PhD Student

Will Schupmann, PhD Student

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Zep Kalb, PhD Student



Undergraduate Students


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shristi keni, Undergraduate

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Yesenia Portillo, Undergraduate

Yesenia Quintero, Undergraduate

Yhencey Labasan, Undergraduate

Yilin Yuan, Undergraduate

Yuricela Rosas, Undergraduate

Zebedee De Jesus, Undergraduate


Alumni


Abraham Calderon, PhD Alumni

Aisha Ayloush, Alumni

Alexis Andino, Alumni

Amado Castillo, Alumni

Ana María Cortes, Alumni

Anthony Ocampo, PhD Alumni

Andrew Herman, PhD Alumni

Andrew Le, PhD Alumni

Anthony James Williams, PhD Alumni

Ariana Valle, PhD Alumni

Brenda Martinez, Alumni

Cindy Zaragoza, Alumni

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Daniel Alamo, Alumni

Daniel Garduno, Alumni

Deisy Del Real, PhD Alumni

Diya Bose, PhD Alumni

Elena Shih, PhD Alumni

Emilio Luna, Alumni

Fredric Abundis, Alumni

Harleen Kaur, PhD Alumni

Iris Cisneros, Alumni

Irvin Ramirez, Alumni

Joanna Mendoza, Alumni

Joel Herrera, PhD Alumni

John Sullivan, PhD Alumni

Jordan Medina, Alumni

Jordan Trimble, Alumni

Juan D. Delgado, PhD Alumni

Kaylee Johnson, Alumni

Kendra Pfalzgraf, Alumni

Kevin Shih, PhD Alumni

Kyle Nelson, PhD Alumni

Leydy Diossa-Jimenez, PhD Alumni

Marie Berry, PhD Alumni

Mirian Martinez-Aranda, PhD Alumni

Mohammad Siddiqui, Alumni

Molly Fee, PhD Alumni

Monica Aguilar Flores-Garcia, Alumni

Neil Gong, PhD Alumni

Nicole Iturriaga, PhD Alumni

Pablo Geraldo, PhD Alumni

Pat Reilly, PhD Alumni

Pei Palmgren, PhD Alumni

Phi Hong Su, PhD Alumni

Rahim Kurwa, PhD Alumni

Rebecca DiBennardo, PhD Alumni

Ria Kotak, Alumni

Rocio Castro, Alumni

Rocio Garcia, PhD Alumni

Sammy Tang, Alumni

Saskia Nauenberg Dunkell, PhD Alumni

Sofía Quintana, Alumni

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Terrell Winder, PhD Alumni

Wisam Alshaibi, PhD Alumni

Yotala Oszkay Febres-Cordero, PhD Alumni

Zach Griffen, PhD Alumni