Chancellor speaks with students in town hall meeting, students deliver petition for resignation

By Daniel Tutt & Gary Djajapranata,
HUB Staff Writers–

UC Davis Chancellor Linda Katehi responded to student concerns over the Nov. 18 pepper-spraying incident and UC tuition hikes in a town hall-style meeting held Nov. 22 at Freeborn Hall from 5-8 p.m.

The purpose of the town hall meeting, according to the chancellor’s student assistants who moderated the event, was to open a dialogue between the students in attendance and a panel of administrators.

More than 700 people, students and adults alike, attended the meeting. Upon entering the meeting, people had the option to obtain a numbered ticket. Throughout the course of the night, the chancellor’s student assistants drew numbers lottery-style from a fishbowl, and the people who held corresponding numbered tickets were given the opportunity to address the panel.

The panel consisted of Katehi; Matt Carmichael, interim chief of the UCD Police Department; Ralph Hexter, provost and executive vice chancellor; and Fred Wood, vice chancellor for student affairs.

Katehi began the meeting with an apology on behalf of the university for the pepper-spray incident that, according to Katehi, “betrayed our values.”

“I also want to be the first to tell you that I am requesting that all charges against the students who have been arrested be dropped,” Katehi said. “And any medical expenses incurred by any students involved will be refunded.”

Katehi said that multiple independent groups are investigating the events of Nov. 18 and that she is confident “the truth will come out.”

Following opening statements, the event moderators drew numbers and called up the people who had matching tickets.

One female student presented to Katehi a box which contained 80,000 signatures petitioning her resignation. This box remained onstage next to the podium for the remainder of the night.

Another student, a UCD senior named Chase, announced his support for Katehi. He began his statement with “I know I’m going to be in the minority here.” He thanked Katehi for having “weathered the storm of this week” in a manner he believed to be highly professional.

His sentiments were not widely shared. Other speakers questioned the university’s use of police force. Katehi explained that she directed the chief of police to avoid violence, and that pepper spray “was the absolute last thing I wanted to happen.”

It is unclear where the order to use pepper spray on Nov. 18 originated. Katehi said Vice Chancellor for Administrative and Resource Management John Meyer is responsible for dealing with campus police.

“There is great discretion given to officers […] to make decisions in the field,” said Meyer, who was asked to join the panel midway through the event. However, whether the actions police took complied with university policy remains to be revealed through ongoing reviews, according to Meyer.

Following this, one student stepped up to ask: “Why do our police need arms?”

“Armed police on the campus is paramount to our safety,” answered Matt Carmichael, interim chief of the UCD police. Carmichael continued to say that it is part of the police’s duty to protect the students and respond to crises, and part of the ability to do so derives from possession of arms.

Many students were dissatisfied with Carmichael’s statement and brought up that universities have banned armed police from their campuses before and, according to one student speaker, it had worked out fine.

Student speakers also brought up concerns over tuition increases and the effect they have on reducing minority student enrollment. Katehi and the other members of the panel said they shared concerns about minority enrollment and are working to implement programs to aid disadvantaged students.

“I am totally against [tuition hikes],” Katehi said. However, she and other panel members said they had little power over tuition fees.

Katehi and the other members of the panel said that the solution to the multitude of problems presented at the meeting is rooted in improved communication between administration and students.

“Here is my hope,” Katehi said. “We should not let [the pepper-spray] incident define us as a university. What should define us is what we do next.”