Davis Faculty Association steps up again, demands Katehi's resignation

After endorsing the November 15th higher education strike, the UC Davis Faculty association has now come out in support of Chancellor Katehi's resignation. The chancellor ordered the police to repress those encamping at UC Davis, which they tried to do by dousing seated protesters with massive amounts of pepper spray, and then she publicly defended their brutality. The letter:

The DFA Board calls for the immediate resignation of Chancellor Katehi. The Chancellor’s authorization of the use of police force to suppress the protests by students and community members speaking out on behalf of our university and public higher education generally represents a gross failure of leadership.

Given the recent use of excessive force by police against “occupy” protestors at UC Berkeley and elsewhere, the Chancellor must have anticipated that, by authorizing police action, she was effectively authorizing their use of excessive force against peaceful UCD student protestors. The Chancellor’s role is to enable open and free inquiry, not to suppress it.

We also call for a policy that will end the practice of forcibly removing non-violent student, faculty, staff, and community protestors by police on the UC Davis campus. The University of California should be taking a leadership role in encouraging the exercise of free speech, not in suppressing it.