Protests resume at UC San Diego with calls for chancellor to resign
SAN DIEGO (FOX 5/KUSI) — Students at University of California San Diego have continued protesting after police broke up up encampments earlier this week, followed by a student walkout Wednesday.
Friday’s rally started on campus and continued to the chancellor’s office. Students, faculty, staff, and even community members are calling for the chancellor to resign after police arrested 40 students on Monday for refusing to disperse their encampments.
“Our message is always to keep all eyes on Gaza,” said a student who wished to remain anonymous. “Students feel now more than ever that they must speak up because our First Amendment is being challenged.”
“A lot of students are now shaken and really wanting to advocate because they are just really questioning, why would they bring on such a big police response for advocating against a genocide?” the student continued.
The latest statement from Chancellor Pradeep Khosla that was released after Mondays’ arrests stated:
“Dialogue, free speech and academic freedom are cornerstones of our university and UC San Diego fully supports the right to peacefully protest and express views on campus. Since October 2023, UC San Diego has supported 27 major campus free expression events, all of which were peaceful, legal protests. The encampment, however, was not one of these as it violated campus policy and the law and grew to pose unacceptable risk to the safety of the campus community.”
“The university’s response was upsetting. There was multiple different ways the chancellor could have gone about this, but instead we were met with brutality,” the student added.
Gus H., a pro-Palestinian protester, said he has no affiliation with the university but provided medical help at the encampments, which he described as peaceful and uplifting.
“And having that destroyed, it really mimics what we are seeing, the images coming out of the Gaza strip,” he said.
Gus said he feels compelled to keep showing up for the health workers in Gaza.
“We refuse to be silent and watch as the hospitals in Gaza, 12 barely functioning ones out of the 36, we refuse to be silent, we can’t be silent, we have a responsibility to speak up, and to mobilize, to make a change,” Gus said.
“The chancellor’s office, the UC Regents system, the U.S. administration, the Biden office to hear our demands and stand on the right side of history and justice,” he added.
The UC Office of the President said in a statement they support the chancellor’s stance on free speech. The president’s office also laid out guidelines for disciplinary action for university members.
It is unclear when the next rally will be held, but students expressed interest in continuing to protest.
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