Berkeley Faculty Association

JUST IN: @UCLA Police Chief John Thomas has been removed from his post and reassigned pending investigations into security lapses that failed to stem violent attacks on a pro-Palestinian encampment. w/ @jaweedkaleem bit.ly/3QUV6EO

"But wait, I've been told supervisors can't honor picket lines." Senate faculty do not become "supervisory employees," a legal term of art under HEERA, by supervising teaching and research; we retain full HEERA rights. See memo by UC labor law scholars: buff.ly/3K5XdSi

If they respected shared governance and understood the concept of academic freedom they'd accept Senate's discretionary proposals instead of trying to impose new requirements @EdSource

And today the unelected Regents, who are in no way representative of those who teach, study or work @UofCalifornia use institutional neutrality to again try and control faculty speech on department websites as the new McCarthyism sweeps the land @sacbee_news

Our statement praising outcome of negotiations @UCBerkeley that recognized a) rights of non-violent protest b) criticism of Israel's war on Palestine is not anti-semitic and c) lay a path to divestment @dailycal ucbfa.org/2024/05/the-ch…

UAW strike has been authorized! This is a ULP strike, which does not violate the no-strike clause in a contract, and cannot be deemed unlawful by UCOP. More information about @uaw_4811 strike and faculty rights coming. See our FAQ buff.ly/4alOW7B for more info!

More on new agreement between @UCBerkeley & pro-Palestinian protesters: Chancellor Carol Christ says she backs a ceasefire in Gaza and that support for the plight of Palestinians, including protests, "should not be conflated with hatred or antisemitism." "I, too, am concerned about the horrific killing of tens of thousands of Palestinians as well as the destruction of the Palestinian educational infrastructure." @UofCalifornia will not divest from Israel but Berkeley will investigate whether campus investments align with values of human rights, equality, abhorrence of war. Christ doesn't support academic boycott but UCB will review complaints about any academic partnerships to ensure compliance with UC non-discrimination policies. Full letter here: documentcloud.org/documents/2466…

RT @TeresaWatanabe: BREAKING: @UCBerkeley reaches agreement with pro-Palestinian protestors. Encampment taken down. UCB won't divest from I…

NEW: @UofCalifornia investments in entities with ties to weapons makers, Israel, Blackrock, Blackstone and 24 other companies targeted by divestment proponents amount to about $32 billion of UC's $175 billion. Per Chief Investment Officer Jagdeep Singh Bachher. Weapons: $3.3 billion Israel: $12 billion in US Treasuries Blackrock: $163 million Blackrock managed investments for UC: $2.1 billion Blackstone: $8.6 billion 24 targeted firms (Disney etc): $3.2 billion

“If the trend is for administrators to call the police as a first rather than last resort, this tendency is reinforced by the increasingly hierarchical, centralized, undemocratic nature of university governance and decision-making.” latimes.com/opinion/story/…

Council of UC Faculty Associations has a FAQ for senate faculty in case of a strike by @uaw4811 against @UofCalifornia for unfair labor practices against their members who participated in non-violent protests in solidarity with Palestine on the UCLA campus cucfa.org/2024/05/faqs-f…

UAW 4811 is calling on UC to peacefully negotiate with stakeholders and reach agreement to address these concerns through: (7/9)

“We commend Chancellor Christ and members of the UC Berkeley encampment for sustaining negotiations while under immense pressure by you. We, as faculty, assert the authority of our Chancellor, Carol Christ …. demand that the autonomy of UC Berkeley be respected.”

If universities are not allowed to be spaces of critical thought, debate and protest then the very fabric of our democracy is in danger

Council of U C Faculty associations condemn criminalization and violent repression of non-violent student protest @UofCalifornia seemingly encouraged by @UCPrezDrake and the unelected Regents cucfa.org/2024/05/cucfa-…

“dialogue, learning, and debate in the pursuit of truth and wisdom especially in the face of deep and painful disagreement are among the core values of a university. Flash-bang grenades and riot shields are the antithesis of those values.” ash.harvard.edu/articles/campu…

If universities are not allowed to be spaces for critical thinking, discussion, debate and protest then the very fabric of our democracy is in danger @uclafa @ucsbfa

"We write to strongly condemn the violent repression of peaceful protests by students across the country, including, alarmingly, at our sister campus UCLA."--thank you @FacultyBerkeley!