Provost Hexter and Vice Chancellor Meyer responded to DFA Chair Shershow’s letter to them regarding their message to the UC Davis community “Demonstration Management Principles and Policies” (see previous post). Their response is below:
Dear Chair Shershow,
We appreciate this opportunity to clarify what appear to be substantive misinterpretations of our recent message to the campus community updating principles for demonstration management.
First, we issued this letter in response to multiple inquiries for clarity since last November 18, We regret not making that more explicit.
Second, the timing of this message and the Reynoso task force report were and are unrelated. The release of the task force findings had been uncertain and, in any case, has always been beyond the campus’s control. We decided to provide the update after several recent campus demonstrations and increasing requests for clarity about our approach to managing them — nothing more, or less.
Be assured that leadership of the Davis Division of the UC Academic Senate is regularly consulted in matters related to protest management. In fact, Senate leadership was consulted about the message in question.
We are committed to the principals of patience, engagement and restraint. This approach proved effective in peacefully ending January’s brief occupation of the former Cross Cultural Center. We anticipate that the Reynoso Task Force will provide helpful suggestions and guidance allowing us to further cultivate and refine this approach.
Thanks again for the opportunity to address your concerns.
Sincerely,
Ralph J. Hexter, Provost and Executive Vice Chancellor
John Meyer, Vice Chancellor, Administrative and Resource Management