Congressional testimony, encampments and labor action: What to know about UC campus turmoil
Good morning. It’s Friday, May 24. Here’s what you need to know to start your day.
- UC protests: UCLA chancellor testifies while a new encampment forms and a walkout takes place at UC Santa Cruz
- Don’t go into the ocean at these Los Angeles County beaches this Memorial Day weekend
- Every ride at Universal Studios Hollywood, ranked
- And here’s today’s e-newspaper
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What to know about the UC campus turmoil this week
The University of California has become one of many national flash points over the Israel-Hamas war — but also over how college leaders have handled occupations, 1st Amendment issues and violence on their campuses.
A new encampment was formed, but quickly dismantled by police, at UCLA yesterday. Up the coast in Santa Cruz, unionized academic workers walked off the job in the first of what could become a slate of strikes across the UC campuses, aimed at officials over their handling of Gaza war protests. And the campus strife has the attention of federal lawmakers in Washington, D.C.
Here’s a quick primer on the various controversies swirling across the UC system.
UCLA chancellor testifies before congressional committee
Gene Block sat before the House Committee on Education and the Workforce on Thursday, where he was grilled about his decision-making regarding the pro-Palestinian encampment that assembled on campus on April 25.
The UCLA encampment was deemed an unlawful assembly by school officials on April 30. Students and staff participating in the action were given written warning to leave or face disciplinary action. Later that same night, a mob attacked the pro-Palestinian protesters.
The violence continued for roughly three hours before police reinforcements arrived to quell the mayhem. At least a dozen people were reportedly injured during the attack. Two nights later, police swarmed the campus to dismantle the encampment, arresting about 200 people.
“With the benefit of hindsight, we should have been prepared to immediately remove the encampment if and when the safety of our community was put at risk,” Block said in his opening remarks.
UCLA Police Chief John Thomas was removed from his position and reassigned this week.
Block also faced questions about antisemitism on campus, telling the panel that “many of our Jewish students have had to confront rhetoric and images on campus that any reasonable person would find repugnant.”
“We have a legal obligation under the 1st Amendment to protect free speech on campus, as well as a legal obligation under federal law to protect students from discrimination and harassment,” he said. “This balance is not always easy to achieve.”
Here are four takeaways from his hearing.
A new pro-Palestinian encampment at UCLA is dismantled
About the same time Block told congressional leaders that there were no encampments on UCLA’s campus, a new group of protesters set up a few tents on the Kerckhoff patio.
By afternoon, several hundred supporters, including academic union members, joined the protesters outside the encampment, facing off with officers in riot gear who had descended on the campus. There were no immediate reports of arrests or injuries.
Classes held near the encampment were shifted online. Administrators, in a letter to protesters, said those in the encampment could face disciplinary and legal action if they did not disband.
As more supporters showed up near the encampment, officers prevented people from entering the area and used police tape to block the entrance to the site. The Times reported that some protesters went through the tape to deliver water to those in the camp.
Protesters chanting “Free Palestine” marched outside the neighboring Mathematical Sciences Building, but withdrew to an area near Murphy Hall after officers pushed the crowd back. The encampment was later dismantled.
UC workers on strike
Academic workers represented by United Auto Workers 4811 walked off their jobs Monday at UC Santa Cruz. It’s the first of a series of rolling strikes the union has planned across the UC system.
“The academic workers contend that their free speech rights were violated when system leaders called on police to forcibly remove pro-Palestinian encampments at several campuses and activists at UCLA were not protected from a mob attack for hours,” our colleagues Kaleem and Howard Blume reported earlier this week.
UC officials and union leaders each accuse the other of violating labor rules. The university filed a request for an injunction on Tuesday with the California Public Employment Relations Board, calling the strike unlawful. The request was denied.
Union leaders, meanwhile, have taken issue with recent disciplinary guidelines approved last week by the UC’s governing Board of Regents, which states:
“Any member of the university community who is arrested for unlawful behavior or cited for a violation of university policy must go through the applicable review process, such as student code of conduct or employee disciplinary process.”
The regents added that “amnesty for students, faculty and staff is inconsistent with this guideline.”
Union leaders have demanded amnesty for its workers, along with students, faculty and other UC staff who participate in protests and subsequently face arrest or disciplinary action.
Today’s top stories
Crime and courts
- Hijacked: A renter turned L.A. home into an illegal Airbnb from 5,000 miles away, a lawsuit says.
- The Supreme Court OKs shift of Black voters to shore up GOP congressional district.
- A mom accused of killing her 5-year-old son hid in North Hollywood for a year. Her neighbors had no idea.
- Four people arrested in Glendale are believed to be part of a ‘burglary tourism’ ring.
- Cassie says Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs’ violence ‘broke me down’ after assault video surfaces.
Memorial Day Weekend
- Black former players to play in Negro Leagues All-Star Game tribute on Memorial Day weekend.
- Traveling for Memorial Day? Expect 3 million on the road and gas over $5 a gallon.
- Don’t go into the ocean at these Los Angeles County beaches this Memorial Day weekend, experts say.
Climate and environment
- Good news for desert tortoises: A stretch of the Mojave Desert gets federal protections.
- Dead baby sea lions are showing up along California coastal islands. Researchers aren’t sure why.
- In striking before-and-after photos, a parched Lake Shasta is transformed.
Music
- The Justice Department sues Live Nation and Ticketmaster over their ‘stranglehold’ on concert ticket industry.
- Would breaking up Live Nation and Ticketmaster actually lower concert ticket prices?
- SoCal has a new record pressing plant. Can it meet Swiftie-sized demand?
- Shakira to headline Besame Mucho Festival 2024 at Dodger Stadium.
- Ben Gibbard on his love-hate relationship with L.A. and life after the Postal Service.
More big stories
- Metro rail is set to expand in the South Bay, and not everyone is happy.
- Thousands of Californians haven’t touched their Middle Class Tax Refunds. Are you one of them?
- Will these drones ‘revolutionize’ 911 response? L.A. suburb will be first to test.
- One man’s plan for a San Francisco business? Banned books and naked booksellers.
- LAUSD caves to public outcry: No more timed testing for 4-year-olds.
- As Caitlin Clark makes her L.A. debut, Sparks plan to win over the WNBA’s newest fans.
- Voters, worried about inflation, are favoring Trump in swing states, a poll shows.
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Commentary and opinions
- Sammy Roth: How ‘Sesame Street’ can prepare kids for climate disasters.
- LZ Granderson: Bring on the cannabis cafes, California. Our nation needs them.
- Editorial: California workers shouldn’t have to face another broiling summer without indoor heat protections.
- Opinion: California will force Malibu and other towns to add housing. Here’s why that’s not nearly enough.
- Editorial: Four years after George Floyd and now we have the backlash.
Today’s great reads
It’s the first taquería in the world to get a Michelin star. Here come the two-hour lines. For the first time, a taco stand wins a Michelin star. Some taco aficionados in Mexico City are unimpressed.
Other great reads
- Being bad is good for Walton Goggins, whose turn in ‘Fallout’ has kept his star rising.
- The worst video game ever made is back. But why?
- Twenty years later, we still can’t get over this ‘Sopranos’ death.
How can we make this newsletter more useful? Send comments to essentialcalifornia@latimes.com.
For your downtime
Going out
- 🎢 Every ride at Universal Studios Hollywood, ranked.
- 🍔 Some of L.A.’s best burgers hit the Valley — with double the craft beer, a new soft-serve dip and more.
- 🎭 George Bernard Shaw’s “Misalliance,” now in revival at A Noise Within in Pasadena, offers the pleasures of brilliant chat.
Staying in
- 📝Travel quiz: How well do you know the West Coast?
- 📖 Greg Iles almost died writing his latest book: ‘This might be the last thing I ever do.’
- 🧑🍳 Here’s a recipe for matzoh balls.
- ✏️ Get our free daily crossword puzzle, sudoku, word search and arcade games.
And finally ... a great photo
Show us your favorite place in California! We’re running low on submissions. Send us photos that scream California and we may feature them in an edition of Essential California.
Today’s great photo is from Times photographer Christina House at the garden of landscape designer Kathleen Ferguson, who turned an empty L.A. lot into a gorgeous mini flower farm.
Have a great day, from the Essential California team
Ryan Fonseca, reporter
Defne Karabatur, fellow
Kevinisha Walker, multiplatform editor and Saturday reporter
Christian Orozco, assistant editor
Karim Doumar, head of newsletters
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