How can we learn from this?

12.2.11

(Chancellor Katehi wrote this op-ed for the Davis Enterprise in response to the Nov. 18 events on campus.)

The use of pepper spray against peaceful protesters at UC Davis was highly regrettable, tearing at the heart and soul of our campus. Like any great institution that has been challenged, the test now is how we learn from it and become even stronger as a result.

As chancellor, I take full responsibility for what happened and have been reaching out to the entire UC Davis community to make sure we never subject any of our students to anything like that ever again.

There are multiple independent investigations already under way that will tell us exactly what went wrong and why. A thorough review of our safety policies and practices will help identify the specific steps we must take to balance the need for a safe and vibrant campus with the fundamental American right of peaceful protest.

As chancellor, I know there is much work to be done to rebuild our community. Our recent town hall meetings with students and with faculty and staff were stirring examples of civility, productive dialogue and the values UC Davis has always held dear. This is just the beginning.

In the 2 1/2 years I have been honored to serve as chancellor, my efforts to promote the university and fight for adequate funding from the state and other sources have sometimes conflicted with the time I want to spend with our students, faculty and staff. Along with our alumni and other devoted and generous friends of the university, they are what make UC Davis so special. I pledge to redouble my efforts to meet with them more often and already have begun.

I plan to meet with as many of the UC Davis stakeholders as possible and hear their concerns about how we should take on the challenges of a public research university and the UC system in the 21st century.

At one recent town hall meeting, a young woman invited me to her dorm to meet with students to share my vision and get to know her colleagues better. I look forward to it. Meetings are being scheduled with members of all our colleges in the coming days, even with those who have been my most vocal critics.

In some of our early conversations, we have been talking about better ways to maintain a year-round dialogue, mediate disputes, reassure donors and parents and make sure everyone’s voice is heard. I have my own thoughts about how we might move forward, but I want to hear everyone else’s ideas.

Our students and the faculty and staff who serve them are the brightest, most dedicated and compassionate people I’ve ever worked with. They are what brought me here in the first place. Every day on campus, I am more in awe of our great university and all it excels at.

To maintain that level of excellence and become even better, we need a true partnership of ideas. The conversations we already have begun will be among the positive results of what we have experienced the past several weeks.

There is, of course, a great deal of concern about recent events and their underlying causes. In the course of my conversations around campus, there is one issue everyone seems to agree on: When it comes to repeated cuts in state funding for higher education and the tuition increases that follow, enough is enough.

This is what our students have been speaking out about. Like growing numbers of protesters around the country, many of them are angry and frustrated by the economic upheaval around them. Jobs are scarce. Our economy is barely growing. Political discourse is so strident and polarized, they find it difficult to feel confident about the future.

On top of such dispiriting news, students throughout the UC system have been hit with repeated tuition hikes. With a UC education now more than twice as costly as it was just six years ago, it’s no wonder they are upset. I am upset, too.

But I remain hopeful for the future. From the research we do that helps craft solutions to some of the world’s most challenging issues to our world-class students, faculty and staff, UC Davis has long made a valuable and lasting contribution to California, the nation and the world.

Now we must show everyone we can restore our promise of a safe campus and an outstanding center of research and learning where we can all express our opinions freely and peacefully.

— Linda Katehi is chancellor of UC Davis.