RESOLUTION TO DEMAND THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA TO UNDO THE ENCAMPMENT BAN ACROSS ALL CAMPUSES

Primary Sponsors:

Alicia Verdugo, Cultural Affairs Commissioner

Co-Sponsors:

Mona Tavassoli, Transfer Student Representative 

Tommy Contreras, General Representative 2

Diego Bollo, General Representative 1

WHEREAS, protest and freedom of speech and expression is a right protected by the United States Constitution, specifically in the First Amendment,

WHEREAS, April 17th, 2024 marked, the establishment of the Gaza Solidarity Encampment on the campus of the Columbia University which led to a chain-reaction across the nation and world, with the go of opposing and fighting against the Israeli occupation of Palestine,

WHEREAS, April 25th, 2024 was the beginning of UCLA’s Palestine Solidarity Encampment in Royce Quad, and it was constantly under terror and assault from racist & zionist mobs, which include the multiple police forces who raided and brutalized the people and students at the encampment, as well as the infrastructure the community built, and

WHEREAS, this encampment had five clear demands:

1. DIVEST all UC-wide and UCLA Foundation funds from companies and institutions that are complicit in the Israeli occupation, apartheid, and genocide of the Palestinian people.

2. DISCLOSE and provide full financial transparency surrounding all UC-wide and UCLA Foundation assets, including investments, donations, and grants.

3. ABOLISH POLICING to end the targeted repression and policing of pro-Palestinian advocacy on campus and sever all university ties with the LAPD.

4. END THE SILENCE and call for an immediate and permanent ceasefire and an end to the occupation and genocide in Palestine.

5. BOYCOTT and sever all UC-wide connections to Israeli universities, including study abroad programs, fellowships, seminars, and research collaborations and abolish the UCLA Nazarian Center.

and, the University, instead of listening, has made it clear that students do not have constitutional rights on their own campuses, and,

WHEREAS, UCLA’s involvement in the colonial Israeli occupation has made the Palestinian genocide possible. Israel's violent occupation of Palestine has been ongoing for decades leading up to its most recent bombardment of Gaza^[1]. In just 346 days, Israel has murdered more than 41,118 people, 95,125 wounded, and starved over one million Palestinians in Gaza,^[2] and

WHEREAS, University of California President Michael V. Drake on August 19, directed chancellors of all 10 campuses to strictly ban encampments, protests that block pathways and masking that shields identities amid sharp calls to stop policy violations during demonstrations, and

WHEREAS, UCLA’s new “Time, Place, & Manner” has some measures like “approval processes and safety assessments related to organizing campus events. Limitations to the use of amplified sound so that it does not disrupt other scheduled events or university functions. Rules of engagement that prioritize safety and respectful dialogue during demonstrations and protests on campus grounds, regardless of content or differing viewpoints being expressed” ^[3]

WHEREAS, the ADL called for the FBI & IRS to surveil, investigate, & possibly prosecute student activists, a McCarthyite campaign to silence any and all criticism of Israel,^[4] and

WHEREAS, there is a mass movement of people being stripped away from their rights and the institutionalization of that goes further than university systems. LAMC 41.18 uses the same designation of schools, hospitals and community centers as "sensitive sites"^[5]

WHEREAS, these large-scale movements to disenfranchise pro-Palestine students and communities is occurring on a macrosociological level, and

WHEREAS, UC is actively backing the zionist war machine by not only funding it and fueling the warfare, but shutting down constitutionally protected speech aimed at silencing pro-Palestinian voices. But those backing the settler-colonial state of is*rael are being assured and their violence is being protected by the university, and

WHEREAS, lawmakers, unhappy with UC’s handling of protests, have directed Drake to develop a “systemwide framework” to provide consistent enforcement of rules — and are withholding $25 million in state funding until he delivers a report on his efforts by Oct. 1^[6], and

WHEREAS, Saree Makdisi, an English Professor at UCLA, said UC was “running roughshod over the proud tradition of teaching, learning and critique that gave the UC system its global reputation, putting it at risk”^[7], and

THEREFORE LET IT BE RESOLVED, that students and cities will continue to protest the university of california, the local and state government, and all of its authorities, to divest and end their complicity and profit from the genocide that’s happening in Gaza, Palestine.

LET IT FURTHER BE RESOLVED, that the Undergraduate Students Association Council will take all the measures necessary to support the students affected by the bans that the UC is implementing – both the mask and encampment bans through all avenues of pressure to the UC Office of the President & UCLA leadership.

LET IT FURTHER BE RESOLVED, that the USAC upholds the demands of the Spring 2024 encampments at UCLA and will continue to fight for divestment from the UC regents this upcoming year.

LET IT FINALLY BE RESOLVED, that any and all attacks on constitutional rights by any entity of power will be condemned and retaliated against by the Undergraduate Students Association Council.