This is a very good piece by a colleague accusing university presidents of lying, in their own narrow self-interest, about what's happening on campuses. Their craven behavior barely protects them and makes everyone else far less safe. Including Muslim and Jewish students, faculty, and staff.
Aftermath of #Petrocultures2024 last week: colleagues are now sending emails urging the Academic Senate to take up the matter of #policing on campus. Because there was a SERIOUS police presence/perimeter. A number of attendees dropped out in protest of that alone... & I don't blame them one bit
I think it's gonna take a lot more than eloquent letters... And unf I don't think we should plan any more conferences for police state campuses, ever again
In a different world I might be posting more about people’s talks but that’s not the world in which I find myself.
Howver, today’s plenary was a hastily-organized roundtable on the politics of divestment from people who’ve organized divestment campaigns at #USC and elsewhere, glad it came together #Petrocultures2024
The final challenge: getting masked people to not reflexively lower their masks to speak
BREAKING: Below is what would have been USC valedictorian Asna Tabassum’s commencement speech, as published on USC Annenberg Media and the Daily Trojan.
Mid-April her speech was cancelled citing security reasons triggering a series of events and national coverage.
TFW you cancel the Muslim valedictorian, cancel academic tradition, & shambolically pivot to hold hold a militaristic pep rally in a 2/3rds-empty sports stadium instead. No irony is too great when suppressing student protest of a war supported by the United States
“The administrators keep leaning on ‘safety’ without consulting or sharing their thinking with the Senate or wider faculty,” she said. “We do not necessarily doubt that there were safety concerns, but some question whether this series of decisions to call [#LAPD on nonviolent protesters] harmed & endangered members of campus community while also sending a message to anyone threatening the campus that those threats work.”
@CedarTea Ok if i'm being brutally honest ... the NYT story is better but the LAT absolutely wiped the floor with them with the picture they selected (and have now already replaced, lol, but I screenshotted it)
What I don't think you'll see in any news story is that my #USC colleagues have been occupying the halls of the administration building for two days now, trying to get disciplinary sanctions of students dropped. They've been met with stonewalling.
It's really awesome that faculty are going to the mat for students & really heartbreaking it's not moving the needle.
Admin censure is so much less than the campus community deserves & also so much less than is visible from inside.
#LAPD entered our campus in riot gear again overnight and tossed out the protesting students. No arrests bc guess what the students have been peaceful and disciplined this whole time, and decided to just comply this time around instead of getting arrested
The only thing swifter than LAPD militarized response to bunch of kids sleeping in tents is #USC President Carol Folt's lying about the entire situation which is nonstop
Perhaps the most false of flags I've ever witnessed. Sad and obvious.
Take your rolling demands and #GTFO
Protesters left a pro-Palestinian encampment at the University of Southern California early Sunday after they were surrounded by police and told they could face arrest if they didn’t go.