On Feb. 22 the ACLU announced that a group of students and alumni would be suing UC Davis about the pepper spray incident. The lawsuit states that the university went against constitutional rights to protest freely.
This lawsuit is justified in looking for answers to lingering questions about the events of Nov. 18. The university should be held accountable for what happened and this lawsuit will help to do so.
Five task forces were created to look into the pepper spray incident, and the campus has still not received any results. Specifically, the investigation put together by UC President Mark Yudof has been delayed yet again, and will be coming out in “early March.” We’re frustrated with these delays, and it seems as though they’re merely sweeping the issue under the rug.
The first of these investigations began in November, and it is reasonable that students want answers. This lawsuit would force answers from the university that students and community members deserve. It is important that administrators know that our community still wants an explanation of what happened on Nov. 18.
However, suing the university does have its consequences. Defending lawsuits can be expensive, and this money should be going toward student outreach and needs. Rather than spending money on a lawsuit, the university could put money into student-administration relations programs or student groups on campus.
Our campus should focus on moving forward and combating the problem that protesters were fighting against when they were pepper sprayed — rising tuition. Furthermore, we should not have to rely on a lawsuit to get information about our university. The university should be spending all of its effort and money on making the UC system affordable and transparent for all students.
Hopefully this lawsuit will bring the answers that our community is still looking for, and allow our campus to move forward and focus on coming together to fight the attack on higher education.
