Read on Twitteri told myself i wasn’t gonna tweet about this but... ok i say this with all of the love in my heart for cnc & student activists, and as an abolitionist who deeply wants to see UCPD defunded & dismantled. But i’m disappointed by the occupation & here& #39;s why 1(/20)
Anyone who knows me knows i’m not a fan of UC admin. However in my time on SG i came to learn a lot about various admin and found that while some were genuinely awful (looking at u Bobby) others were honestly clueless (fun fact Boyer had no clue underage drinking was (2/
decriminalized on campus and lost his mind when we told him frats were drugging students) and then there were those who genuinely cared about students and wanted to help but were restricted in their ability to actually do things (Rasmussen is doing her dang best & honestly if (3/
anyone should be running this university it’s her). Provost Ka Yee Lee is in the latter category. She only became Provost in the winter, and inherited a mess of a University. Her background is in chemistry, teaching, and research - not admin Her students love her. And when SG (4/
asked to meet she made time for us. She was open to hearing everything we had to say even when we clearly overwhelmed her with information. She was responsive. She answered our questions honestly and gave us the floor to speak. When we emailed her and (5/
Rasmussen urging them to notify students asap of a COVID closure, they responded immediately. The decision went out to HRL that night. When we as SG demanded the spring meeting with Zimmer we were promised and he turned us down Ka Yee offered to meet instead and heard us out. (6/
She didn’t always understand where we were coming from but she let us speak. When we asked hard questions, she didn’t always know what to say. Sometimes she parroted back the same answers admin have been taught to say for years but that’s no fault of her own. (7/
That’s “the party line” and anyone who has worked w/ admin or HRL can tell u how you’re forced to keep the party line to keep ur job. She didn’t dismiss us, even when we got upset w/ her. When we asked for a Town Hall, Zimmer didn’t want to answer questions. (8/
KYL agreed to, and stayed on the call the entire time. She responded to our emails quickly. You might be saying “hey that’s a low bar tho!” And fair. But compared to many other admin she’s done far more to make space for our voices and to let us be heard. (9/
My best guess is most communication is coming from her re: COVID, diversity, etc. bc Zimmer is unwell enough to do it himself. She’s stuck as the messenger whether she agrees or not. Unrelated note but Ka Yee is the first woman to be Provost at UC. (10/
What i’m trying to say is that Ka Yee is among the more gracious admin i’ve met. And while she might have some sway re: cultural centers, she definitely does NOT have the power to defund or dismantle the UCPD. i don’t even think Zimmer does. (11/
i think it would require the Board of Trustees to approve. So i don’t think focusing all of this energy on KYL makes sense because she cannot do anything! The Provost handles academic programming & priorities and research. (12/
She can advocate to admin/the Board, but it’s not HER decision to make! Even if she agrees with CNC’s demands, she doesn’t necessarily have the power to make them happen. And ik it’s different but there were plenty of times i disagreed with HRL but i couldn’t say so publicly (13/
bc i would lose my job which i desperately needed. We don’t know what KYL’s contract requires of her! But energy should be focused on people who actually have decision making power when it comes to UCPD & that’s NOT KYL.
Finally, i do think it’s (14/
Finally, i do think it’s (14/
worth pointing out that while KYL refused a public meeting (this doesn’t surprise me as UC admin have taken that stance for yrs & my best guess is it’s to avoid saying something off the cuff that could go against the University - CARE was the first group in years to get (15/
admin to meet w/ students in public forums) that she was actually v generous in her letter. She stated her support for student advocates and kept her offer to meet privately standing (which is again way more than most admin would do). (16/
It was honestly v amicable considering some of the things that have been spray painted outside of her house/said to her family members - esp considering that once again she is a new admin who has NO direct power over UCPD. And on one last note (17/
as someone who is high risk for COVID-19, i am super pro-protest with safe precautions. But to actively throw a “party” with dancing, food, etc. during a pandemic is incredibly unsafe and puts the entire community at risk. It’s a bad move that is especially dangerous for (18/
chronically ill & disabled folks & those w/ limited healthcare access. And i’m super disappointed in that action. i want abolition. i want to see UCPD disbanded. But i also think we need to be intentional in our actions and what we put our energy towards. (19/
And i know this is going to get me cancelled on UChicago twitter and probably upset some people i love but i felt that it needed saying and i said it & i hope it makes sense. Disrupt, protest, but put ur energy @ the right people (20/20).
