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Administrative Message

April 19, 2005

To: UCSC Staff and Faculty Colleagues

From: Denice D. Denton, Chancellor; David S. Kliger, Interim Campus Provost and Executive Vice Chancellor

Re: Efforts to work with representatives of Tent University are unsuccessful

We are writing to report that our efforts to work with students to identify an alternative location for the Tent University Santa Cruz (TUSC) were not successful. Beginning at approximately 10 p.m. last evening, UC police began making arrests.

Chancellor Denton's message on April 18

This is an unfortunate situation, one that many campus members have strived to avoid over the past 10 days or more. No one wanted events to reach this conclusion. But when the crowd at the entrance to campus continued to grow in size, neighbors complained about excessive noise, and illegal activity was observed, it became necessary to act.

It is important to note that only 200 or so, including both UCSC students and others, were involved in the incident. The great majority of our 15,000 students were not involved, and no official student organization participated.

Before the arrests were made, Student Affairs staff warned repeatedly of consequences of not dispersing and urged transition to alternative locations. UC Police issued further warnings.

For more than a week, Student Affairs staff and others had been working with TUSC students to identify a venue that would be appropriate and safe for both the planned cultural and educational experiences and for sleeping outdoors. These discussions continued through approximately 6 p.m. Monday, at which point it was clear that the students were unwilling to compromise, and that they were committed to acts of civil disobedience, which they knew would lead to arrest.

After several arrests were made, the situation escalated. Following consultation with faculty observers and others, the decision was made to discontinue arrests in order to allow the situation to calm.

Again, no one wanted this outcome, and we worked hard to avoid it. By contrast, thoughtful and civil discourse is a hallmark of a great university, and should be encouraged and celebrated.

Administrative Messages Index