UC Davis Chancellor Apologizes
My alma mater UC Davis has been making quite some noise in the past week. For those that haven't heard or seen, the police pepper sprayed student protestors that were sitting (non-violent).
There appear to be differing accounts of whether the UC Davis chancellor, Linda P.B. Katehi, authorized force and/or defended the actions of the police or, in more recent news, defied her orders by using pepper spray. In any case, the incident naturally caused an outrage that led to demands for the chancellor's resignation as well as a quite powerful silent (but again peaceful) protest by UCD students as the chancellor walked to her car.
Bob Ostertag, a professor at UC Davis, wrote an eye-opening article about the militarization of campus police that was featured on the Huffington Post. And the cavalier attitude of the cop doing the pepper spraying has made him the focal point of an Internet meme.
But, on to my point. Chancellor Katehi made some very critical mistakes during this incident but after reading this article about a general assembly on Monday, it seems she is taking some steps in the right direction.
She apologized - the easy thing to do would have been to say 'I didn't do it' and point the blame elsewhere, but Katehi took full responsibility for what happened
She kept a promise - the chancellor promised to attend the protestors' general assembly and she showed up
She didn't expect special treatment - at the assembly, she waited for her turn to speak and only spoke briefly to comply with the request of a 1 minute limit, indicating that her voice wasn't more important than everyone else's at the assembly
She related - Katehi drew on her own experience with student/military tensions in Greece and expressed a desire to understand the students better
Katehi also indicated that she would not resign. If you were in her shoes, would you? I know I wouldn't. I would want to make things right, and it looks like she is starting on that path. The Monday assembly was followed by a town hall on Tuesday where Katehi defended herself. Stating facts is fine but this can come awfully close to pointing the finger. There is a long road ahead.
It's unfortunate that this is what is putting UC Davis 'on the map'. I am proud of the way the students have reacted, and what they need most now is what was missing during the crisis - true leadership.
Tweet
There appear to be differing accounts of whether the UC Davis chancellor, Linda P.B. Katehi, authorized force and/or defended the actions of the police or, in more recent news, defied her orders by using pepper spray. In any case, the incident naturally caused an outrage that led to demands for the chancellor's resignation as well as a quite powerful silent (but again peaceful) protest by UCD students as the chancellor walked to her car.
Bob Ostertag, a professor at UC Davis, wrote an eye-opening article about the militarization of campus police that was featured on the Huffington Post. And the cavalier attitude of the cop doing the pepper spraying has made him the focal point of an Internet meme.
But, on to my point. Chancellor Katehi made some very critical mistakes during this incident but after reading this article about a general assembly on Monday, it seems she is taking some steps in the right direction.
She apologized - the easy thing to do would have been to say 'I didn't do it' and point the blame elsewhere, but Katehi took full responsibility for what happened
She kept a promise - the chancellor promised to attend the protestors' general assembly and she showed up
She didn't expect special treatment - at the assembly, she waited for her turn to speak and only spoke briefly to comply with the request of a 1 minute limit, indicating that her voice wasn't more important than everyone else's at the assembly
She related - Katehi drew on her own experience with student/military tensions in Greece and expressed a desire to understand the students better
Katehi also indicated that she would not resign. If you were in her shoes, would you? I know I wouldn't. I would want to make things right, and it looks like she is starting on that path. The Monday assembly was followed by a town hall on Tuesday where Katehi defended herself. Stating facts is fine but this can come awfully close to pointing the finger. There is a long road ahead.
It's unfortunate that this is what is putting UC Davis 'on the map'. I am proud of the way the students have reacted, and what they need most now is what was missing during the crisis - true leadership.
Tweet
Posted by coolguyphil at 11/23/2011 10:52 AM 
Categories: school, commentary
Tags: uc davis davis ucdavis chancellor apologizes alma mater police pepper sprayed student protestors non-violent Linda Katehi bob ostertag militarization of campus police internet meme she apologized she kept a promise she didn't expect special treatment she related leadership
Categories: school, commentary
Tags: uc davis davis ucdavis chancellor apologizes alma mater police pepper sprayed student protestors non-violent Linda Katehi bob ostertag militarization of campus police internet meme she apologized she kept a promise she didn't expect special treatment she related leadership
Comments