By Christine Mai-Duc
The chancellor of the University of California, Los Angeles, is facing a firestorm of criticism from state leaders, university employees and students after one of the most chaotic and violent weeks any college has endured amid protests and clashes across the country.
UCLA Chancellor Gene Block is being accused of taking a too-lenient approach to a pro-Palestinian encampment, even as conflicts with pro-Israel counterprotesters escalated, and then failing to call law enforcement soon enough when things turned violent.
Block previously said he would retire July 31, ending a 17-year run as chancellor of one of the country's leading research universities.
"It's unfortunate that this is going to be the last chapter of his tenure, and the one for which he may be remembered," said David Myers, a history professor who considers himself a friend and admirer of Block but has criticized university officials for not beefing up security as tensions flared over the past week.
One of Block's most vocal critics has been Rick Chavez Zbur, a Democratic assemblyman who represents the UCLA area in the state legislature. "In an attempt to not make the same mistakes that have occurred on some other campuses, they didn't do anything," he said of UCLA's leadership. "They basically just rolled the dice."
Zbur has called for the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Civil Rights to investigate the school, citing alleged harassment of Jewish and Israeli-American students.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom and other political leaders have also criticized the university's handling of the situation, and the president of the University of California system, Michael V. Drake, has ordered an investigation.
The union representing librarians and lecturers in the UC system has called on Block to resign.
A spokesman for Block and UCLA officials didn't respond to requests for comment.
Violent shutdown following slow response
As at many colleges, protesters at UCLA set up an encampment at the heart of campus last week to oppose Israel's invasion of Gaza.
A police shutdown of the encampment early Thursday morning was among the most violent at any university, and more than 200 people were arrested.
Block, an expert in neuroscience who leads a campus of some 47,000 students, said in a statement Thursday, "We approached the encampment with the goal of maximizing our community members' ability to make their voices heard on an urgent global issue...ultimately, the site became a focal point for serious violence as well as a huge disruption to our campus."
Much of the criticism of Block came Wednesday, after a violent overnight conflict.
On Tuesday evening, counterprotesters supporting Israel began gathering next to the encampment, playing loud Hebrew music on large speakers, witnesses said.
Around 11 p.m., the standoff turned violent, with counterprotesters dismantling and tossing barricades around the encampment and someone throwing what appeared to be a firework, according to videos.
Outnumbered campus security didn't intervene, according to the videos, and the situation didn't de-escalate until around 2 a.m., following the arrival of state troopers and Los Angeles Police Department officers.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom said on Wednesday that the limited and delayed response by law enforcement on campus was "unacceptable" and "demands answers."
A person familiar with conversations in the governor's office said Newsom officials were in touch with Chancellor Block's office minutes after violence began at the encampment Tuesday. The chancellor's office repeatedly assured them that they had requested help from LAPD officers, who they said were en route.
Around 12:30 a.m., with no law enforcement in sight, the governor's office decided to deploy state troopers to the UCLA campus, where they worked with the LAPD, the person said.
In his statement Thursday, Block said, "When physical violence broke out that night, leadership immediately directed our [campus] police chief to call for the support of outside law enforcement, medical teams and the fire department to help us quell the violence."
Warning signs
The attacks Tuesday night were the culmination of numerous warning signs over the past week, according to critics of Block, as the encampment grew more disruptive and conflicts with counterprotesters became more intense.
Rachel Burnett, a senior majoring in Middle Eastern studies and psychology, said she was accosted by pro-Israel counterprotesters at a rally Sunday supporting Jewish students as she held a sign that called for both a cease-fire and the safe return of Israeli hostages.
"I was spat on and told that I should have been slaughtered in the kibbutzim on Oct. 7," said Burnett, who is Jewish.
Myers, who also attended Sunday's rally, said hundreds of demonstrators on both sides were standing nose to nose. He and two other faculty members tried to defuse the situation by separating them.
He said campus security officers were standing nearby, but didn't intervene.
By Monday, Burnett said, some students were being prevented from moving through the encampment. To pass, she was told, she would need someone from the encampment to vouch for her.
The state legislature's Jewish Caucus has accused UCLA's leaders of failing Jewish students, protesters, and the broader campus community.
"When you do little to nothing to address the situation, you create a tinderbox," said Sen. Scott Wiener, a Democrat and co-chair of the caucus.
Write to Christine Mai-Duc at christine.maiduc@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
May 03, 2024 09:00 ET (13:00 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2024 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
Comments