The Graduate Student Association of the University of California, Santa Cruz

2011-2012
President Erik Green Internal Vice President Alice Ye External Vice President Cameron Alston Treasurer Michael Bacon Secretary Meg Eppel Gudgeirsson

202 Graduate Commons University of California Santa Cruz 1156 High Street Santa Cruz, CA 95064 gsa@ucsc.edu www2.ucsc.edu/gsa/

The Graduate Student Association exists to serve the collective interests of the graduate students of UCSC by promoting cooperation among graduate students of various boards of study at UCSC, representing their interests to the faculty, administration and staff of UCSC, providing a vehicle for and promoting cooperation with other graduate student organizations on this campus and systemwide, and by providing services to the graduate student body which they cannot provide for themselves as individuals.

November 23, 2011 UC Santa Cruz Instructors Re: Demonstration in Solidarity with UC Davis, November 28, 2011 Distinguished Faculty, Lecturers, and Teaching Assistants, On Friday, November 18, 2011, University police forcefully pepper-sprayed peaceful demonstrators as they were seated on a sidewalk at UC Davis. This action has been widely documented and has gained an international uproar. The Graduate Student Association at UC Santa Cruz feels strongly that our University should be taking a leadership role in encouraging the exercise of free speech, not in suppressing it. Peaceful protesters were subjugated to unnecessary, unjustified, and unprovoked attacks with weapons-grade chemicals. This is absolutely unacceptable. In response we are supporting a peaceful demonstration in solidarity with UC Davis this Monday, November 28, starting at 12 noon in Quarry Plaza. We ask for your attendance and above all your support. The GSA will be offering free tutoring to anyone to keep our angered focus on education. We invite you to join us. If you cannot make the peaceful demonstration we ask for your understanding toward students that may have to choose between classes and showing support. We ask that you please explicitly teach your classes about what is currently happening, as well as relax attendance policies for that day. The Council of UC Faculty Associations has condemned the police brutality and a statement can be found here: http://cucfa.org/ Lastly we would like to recognize the courage of Nathan Brown, Assistant Professor in English at UC Davis. His powerful letter calling on Chancellor Katehi to resign can be found here: http://bicyclebarricade.wordpress.com/2011/11/22/katehi-cannot-share-in-ourpride/ We hold up Professor Brown and the UC Davis Department of English as an example of faculty standing up for their Academic Freedom. In solidarity, Michael Patrick Bacon Treasurer on behalf of the Graduate Student Association, UCSC cc: UCSC Academic Senate, Chancellor George Blumenthal UCSC SUA, City on a Hill Press Santa Cruz Sentinel