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Assaults on civility demand responses at both the campus and systemic levels. While each individual campus administration and student body must figure out the appropriate response to the incidents that occur on their campus, the UC system must also work as a larger entity to determine how all ten of its campuses can better promote civility and tolerance. An overview of the responses to the 2010 incidents suggests that the same strategies of response are present at the systemic level as at the campus level—condemnation of the incident in an official response; demands of action; promises of action; production of reports; and the introduction of new policy.


System-Wide Reporting:


One way the UC implemented a cross campus response was through a UC-wide reporting system, which offers students a way to report behavior “inconsistent with the Principles of Community” anonymously via the website. The website allows students to report hate crimes, hate speech, vandalism, expressions of bias or other incidents that negatively affect campus climate. While the reporting system may not help increase the diversity on campus, it gives students a place to report acts of incivility or hate directed towards a particular person or group based on their race, sexual orientation, or religion. The reporting system provides a way for the campus community to support the rhetoric in the Principles of Community with action.

The University of California's systemwide intolerance report form can be accessed here. After reiterating the Principles of Community and the UC system’s commitment to diversity, the form asks that “If you experience or observe behavior that is inconsistent with our Principles of Community, please report it.” It then provides a list of the appropriate intolerance “issues” to be reported through the form, providing definitions for the terms it uses to classify intolerant behavior. The inclusion of these definitions foregrounds an important early step along the institution’s avenue of response to incidents like those explored in this project. In order to frame its responses, the university must first label and classify the incident, a step which immediately constrains the set of responses available to the university. The UC can, and must, respond differently to a “hate crime” than it does to a report of a “hostile climate.” Click on the terms at left to view the UC’s guiding definitions for key words that classify intolerance issues and in part, determine the responses to them.

Mark Yudof Responds:


UC President Mark Yudof swiftly denounced the events at UC Irvine and UC San Diego. In a Facebook message posted on February 18, 2010, Yudof expressed his disappointment and anger over student’s behavior at UCI and UCSD and gave his full support to chancellors Michael Drake and Marye Anne Fox. Yudof extolled the university as a “special place for the exchange of views and ideas, and it is critical that our policies be conducive to a spirited intellectual life.” Yudof’s Facebook address represented the first of a series of systematic responses to the hateful incidents.

Russell Gould Responds:


The UC regents expressed immediate concern for the incidents and wanted to see that each campus took proper action. On February 23, 2010 UC regent chair Russell Gould addressed the regents in a letter. Gould condemned the acts of bias at both UC San Diego and UC Irvine. Gould stated proudly that “the University of California's commitment to diversity and tolerance for differing points of view is one of the hallmarks of its character.” He then requested that UCSD chancellor Marye Anne Fox and UCI chancellor Michael Drake to provide a report on their actions taken in response to these incidents.

Students Respond:


On March 1, 2010 outraged at the recent hateful acts on their campuses, students protested in Sacramento and submitted a list of demands to UC president Mark Yudof. The UC president promised to consider student demands while also making sure that the UC stays within the bounds of constitutionally protected speech.

California Senators Respond:


On March 3, 2010, California state senators Darrel Steinberg, Gloria Romero, and Denise Ducheny sent a letter to the UC president and chancellors. The senators wanted to know what each campus was doing in response to the recent acts of racism and vandalism. They demanded specific answers such as to what disciplinary actions each campus has taken, how each campus makes its students aware of its policies, and what deficiencies each campus has identified that allowed such hateful acts to occur. On March 29, President Yudof responded to the senators listing the many actions the UC has taken in response to the acts of intolerance such as appointing civil rights expert Dean Christopher Edley of UC Davis law school to assist Chancellor Fox at UC San Diego, re-evaluating the admission process, and reviewing proposals submitted by students. While each individual UC responded to the incidents of hate committed on its campus, the state senators wanted to ensure that a comprehensive, system-wide response was in place.