Statement of Members of the Department of History in Response to the Attack on the Encampment on 30 April 2024

We, members of the History Department, a number of whom were present during the events of the night of 30 April to 1 May, strongly condemn the mob attack on our students and the university’s failure to support our students’ right to protest peacefully and to be kept safe while doing so.

The encampment itself had been a model of its kind: it was limited to members of the university community through the checking of IDs to gain access; participants made continual efforts to avoid engagement with hecklers; and it maintained its focus on its own concerns. This orderly and self-disciplined environment seemed to have the support of the university administration, which initially praised its decorum. This policy on the part of the UC and UCLA administration earned high praise for its restraint and for its clear dedication to protecting the rights of students to protest peacefully.

In a sharp reversal, on 30 April, President Drake issued a statement declaring that the encampment was “unlawful,” and Chancellor Block called it “unauthorized.” Such statements withdrew official protections from these peaceful student activities, making the students vulnerable to attack. Later that night, the campus was invaded by a violent mob of individuals including many not affiliated with the campus community. History faculty who were present reported that many were middle-aged men; some shouted white supremacist slurs; and others brandished flags linked to violent, right-wing organizations. The security personnel who had been stationed around the barricade left the scene, abandoning it to attack. The violent mob used toxic spray, fireworks, pieces of the barricade, pipes, boards, and bottles to assault the students and faculty inside the encampment. They tore the barricades apart to get at the students inside. During this time, the security personnel and campus police made no effort to stop them. Student journalists and faculty observers outside the encampment were also threatened and assaulted. When police finally arrived many hours later, they watched the attacks, failing to come to the aid of those in the encampment. Some history department faculty who were at the scene reported that police, far from putting a halt to the violence,  seemed to be marching alongside the mob. No emergency aid was provided to the students who were bleeding, gassed, or concussed. Today we heard many first-hand accounts of the violence and the lack of support from police and security forces.

We want to object in the strongest possible terms to this travesty. We are horrified that Chancellor Block abdicated his responsibility to protect and support students. His statements (and those of President Drake) opened the way to these attacks on our community. The exemplary nature of this encampment made it a target for those who oppose the free exercise of views other than their own. We demand that the Chancellor and the President be held accountable for their actions in sacrificing student safety and liberties to political expediency. We call for the resignation of Chancellor Gene Block.

We want the university to stand up for the safety and the rights of the campus community by defending the continuing existence of the encampment. The encampment must be protected and the rights of peaceful protests upheld.

Signed:

Carla G. Pestana, Distinguished Professor and Joyce Appleby Endowed Chair of America in the World

Koh Choon Hwee, Assistant Professor 

Bharat Venkat, Associate Professor

Elizabeth O’Brien, Assistant Professor

Miloš Jovanović, Assistant Professor

Fernando Pérez-Montesinos, Assistant Professor

Kevin Kim, Assistant Professor

Hollian Wint (Frederick), Assistant Professor

Katherine Marino, Associate Professor

Jared McBride, Assistant Professor 

Katsuya Hirano, Associate Professor

Kevin Terraciano, Professor, Robert Burr Chair of History 

Brenda Stevenson, Professor and Nickoll Family Endowed Chair in History

Mary Corey, Senior Continuing Lecturer

Ghislaine Lydon, Associate Professor

Michael Meranze, Professor

Jim Gelvin, Distinguished Professor

Andrea Goldman, Associate Professor

Valerie Matsumoto, Professor, Aratani Chair on the Japanese American Incarceration, Redress, and Community

Tobias Higbie, Professor

Caroline Ford, Professor

Sanjay Subrahmanyam, Distinguished Professor & Irving and Jean Stone Endowed Chair in Social Sciences

Vinay Lal, Professor

Greg Woolf, Distinguished Professor and Ronald J. Mellor Chair of Ancient History

Soraya de Chadarevian, Professor

Peter Stacey, Associate Professor

Nile Green, Professor & Ibn Khaldun Endowed Chair in World History

William Marotti, Associate Professor

Sarah Stein, Professor

Stefania Tutino, Professor and Peter Reill Chair in European History

Richard von Glahn, Distinguished Professor

Minayo Nasiali, Associate Professor

Sebouh Aslanian, Professor and Richard Hovannisian Endowed Chair in Modern Armenian History

Muriel McClendon, Associate Professor

Kelly Lytle-Hernandez, Professor and The Thomas E. Lifka Endowed Chair in History

Robin Derby, Professor, Dr. E. Bradford Burns Chair in Latin American Studies

Andrew Apter, Professor

Stella Ghervas, Professor and Eugen Weber Chair in Modern European History

H. Glenn Penny, Professor and Henry J. Bruman Chair in German History

Robin D. G. Kelley, Distinguished Professor and Gary B. Nash Endowed Chair

Mary Momdjian, Continuing lecturer

Anthony Vivian, Lecturer in Ancient History

David Warren Sabean, Henry J. Bruman Chair of German History, emeritus, and Distinguished Research Professor of European History