Chancellor Gary May addressed concerns regarding the new UC protest policies
By RAGAVI GOYAL — campus@theaggie.org
The meeting was called to order at 6:05 p.m. by ASUCD Vice President Aaminah Mohammad, followed by a roll call and reading of the UC Davis Land Acknowledgement.
This was followed by a speech from Chancellor Gary May addressing the ASUCD Senate and others present in the room. He talked about UC Davis’ growth in the academic field, as well as increased recognition on public forums.
May also talked about the recent publication of UC Davis’ rankings.
“Wall Street Journal just named us the No. 3 public university in the country,” May said. “We’ve got a bronze medal this year.”
May also thanked ASUCD for their role in this success as the student leadership on campus by bridging the gap between the student body and the university administration. He then went on to address concerns regarding the implementation of the UC policies on free speech and free expression on campus.
May emphasized that freedom of expression remains a “bedrock principle” at UC Davis but mentioned that it comes with a corollary obligation to listen to the viewpoint of others and respect their rights to speak freely.
Additionally, May addressed specific misconceptions starting with the masking provision that some argued violates the right to peaceful practice of religion and/or cultural norms.
“Students, faculty and staff following policy can mask for any reason, including health or cultural or religious practices,” May said. “This policy does not affect these protections. [The] policy only restricts masking when it’s done in violation of [other] policies or to intimidate others.”
He also talked about the new identification policy which states that only those expressly designated by the university administration, including campus safety personnel, may ask for identification or removal of masks.
May expanded on the identification policy.
“Just as no person on campus can refuse to identify themselves following such a legitimate request, individuals may request that the university employee provide their identification when they’re making such a request,” May said.
He ended his speech by appreciating input from ASUCD and welcoming questions or concerns from the student body in general.
This was followed by several questions being asked by the ASUCD student body as well as some public members present in the room. The questions ranged from the collaboration of ASUCD with university administration to the protests and reported sexual and verbal assault reported on Oct. 7 on campus. Other questions about UC Davis policies and administrative plans for upcoming year were asked as well.
After a short break, the meeting proceeded with elected officer and ex-officio reports.
This was followed by an introduction of SB #4 on the senate floor as emergency legislation in the meeting. This bill aims to reintroduce a previous senate bill (SB #99) in efforts to smoothen the process of implementing the 2024 to 2025 ASUCD Operational Budget.
ASUCD President Gaius Ilupeju explained the provisions of this bill.
“Basically part of this bill is putting the [Housing and Transportation Advocacy Council (HTAC)] and the [Disability Justice Committee (DJC)] committees into the executive branch of ASUCD,” Ilupeju said. “So instead of being committee chairs, they’d be associate vice presidents.”
Some senators raised concerns regarding the language of the bill as well as the limited amount of time they were provided to review it. The president and internal vice president emphasized the need to pass this bill as soon as possible as otherwise it will “set the senate back with their quarterly goals.”
The meeting broke off into an unmoderated caucus for five minutes due to a lack of consensus amongst the senators.
The bill was then voted on, and SB #4 passed by a vote of 7-3. Internal Affairs Chair Amanda Clark voiced concerns regarding SB #4 not being addressed completely to which some of the senators replied apologetically.
The meeting concluded with a presentation from the University of California Student Association (UCSA) and approval of the past meeting minutes.
The meeting was adjourned at 8:50 p.m.
Written by: Ragavi Goyal — campus@theaggie.org
