Week 4 - Emily Luc

Emily Luc

Section A03
Week 4

In his article "A Tale of Two Campuses: Berkeley and Davis respond to Occupy movements," Alan Markow discusses the different ways in which the two universities responded after the Occupy protests at their respective campuses. UC Berkeley responded to students' complaints of rising tuition costs by making plans to make education more affordable for middle-class families, called the Middle Class Access Plan (MCAP). On the other hand, UC Davis made complaints against students about the costs of cleaning and repairing the campus. Students were accused of causing over $8,500 in damages. UC Davis, as well as then-Chancellor Linda Katehi, also came under fire for the pepper spray incident that occurred during the Occupy protest. Compared to UC Berkeley's response, which showed a sense of compassion and understanding for the plight of its students, UC Davis showed how there is a clear lack of empathy for its students and biased regard for its administration.

As a current UC Davis student, the way that UC Davis responded to the Occupy Movement truly saddens me that the administration of my campus would be so heartless. Compared to UC Berkeley's response, I feel that UC Davis could have responded in a much more compassionate way. Instead of working with students to find a common ground, the chancellor instead seemed to victimize herself and blame students for all the aggressiveness that occurred—even though she herself militarized the school by ordering campus police to pepper spray the students. It raises the question of whether or not the education system is actually just, if two top universities could react in such drastically different ways. It also raises the question of whether or not university administration is actually fit to lead its students.

Question: How did other universities with Occupy movements respond in the aftermath?



References:

Markow, A. (2011, December 22). A Tale of Two Campuses: Berkeley and Davis respond to Occupy movements. Retrieved October 14, 2017

[Selective silencing of dissent]. (2011, November 21). Retrieved October 15, 2017, from http://austin.culturemap.com/news/sports/11-21-11-00-20-what-the-cowboys-win-the-penn-state-riots-and-the-occupy-movement-all-have-in-common/