Over 800 UCLA Faculty Call for Chancellor’s Resignation Following Violent Pro-Palestinian Demonstrations
More than 800 faculty and staff members at UCLA are demanding the resignation of Chancellor Gene Block in response to recent attacks on pro-Palestinian student demonstrators and a violent police raid on a Gaza solidarity encampment on campus.
A group of over 100 professors and teaching staff delivered a letter in support of the students involved in pro-Palestinian activism, urging Block to step down and calling for a vote of no confidence in his leadership. The faculty action comes amidst a wave of pro-Palestinian demonstrations and aggressive law enforcement crackdowns on campuses nationwide during graduation season.
Professors recounted violent attacks on student demonstrators and the subsequent mass arrests, with at least 25 students hospitalized and approximately 200 protesters taken into custody. The faculty letter also expressed solidarity with student demands for the university to disclose investments and divest from military-weapons-production companies.
In addition, a group of Jewish faculty and staff criticized Block for suggesting that the encampment needed to be dismantled to prevent antisemitism. The UAW local 4811, representing 48,000 graduate student workers, is considering a strike over the administration’s response to the pro-Palestinian protests.
While Block announced the creation of a campus safety office to address violence and hold perpetrators accountable, he did not directly respond to the faculty’s demands. Faculty members emphasized their duty to defend students and ensure their safety during peaceful protests, accusing the university of excessive police intervention and becoming a police state.
Even faculty who may not have aligned with the student protesters’ views were shocked by LAPD officers firing less-lethal munitions into the crowd, with one professor describing the experience as terrifying. The call for Block’s resignation highlights the growing tension at UCLA surrounding issues of free speech, campus safety, and political activism.
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