Representatives of the UCLA Academic Senate voted against censuring and making a “no-confidence” statement against UCLA Chancellor Gene Block, rejecting a call to issue a formal disapproval of his leadership amid criticism of the university's response to a pro-Palestinian camp on campus and to violence. mafia attack on him more than two weeks ago.
In a “censure of confidence” resolution, 79 faculty members approved, 103 opposed, five abstained and seven members were present but did not vote, with 43% of representatives voting against UCLA's top leader.
After censorship, 88 professors approved, 88 opposed, three abstained and 15 were present but did not vote. Since the vote was split down the middle for and against censure, it did not pass because it needed a majority to succeed.
Block declined to comment on the vote.
In a Friday letter to faculty, Academic Senate President Andrea M. Kasko said it was “clear that we are not united in how we view the major events of recent weeks and the campus response to them.” Kasko, a bioengineering professor, said she hoped “we can try to find common ground as colleagues and have the courage to listen with an open mind and heart even when we disagree.”
After the vote, UC President Michael V. Drake said, “These are extraordinarily complex and unprecedented times for American universities. I appreciate Chancellor Block's dedication and commitment to the University during these difficult times. “We will continue to provide our chancellors with the support and resources they need to respond to these evolving situations.”
The academic senate's decision, even if the motions passed, would have been a largely symbolic vote with no legal authority over Block's position.
Both votes focused on whether Block “failed to ensure the safety of our students and grossly mishandled the events” related to the pro-Palestinian camp at the university that began on April 25.
On April 30, a mob attacked the camp overnight amid a delayed police response, resulting in multiple injuries. Police later intervened to dismantle the camp and arrested more than 200 protesters. He does not–the motions of confidence and censure used the same language.
The vote was taken by a legislative assembly of more than 200 members from all UCLA departments who are elected to represent 3,800 tenured and tenured faculty.
The vote marked another somber moment for the leader of the country's top public research university. Block is ending his 17-year tenure amid controversy after years of praise for leading the campus through a financial crisis and global pandemic by expanding enrollment, diversity, philanthropy and research funding. Block, a biologist, announced last year that he will leave his position on July 31 to return to research.
“This shows that many professors support Chancellor Block and understand that he was adhering to UC policy,” said a source who was not authorized to speak publicly. “People are realizing that Chancellor Block was in an impossible situation.”
The opinions of the teachers reflected the divided vote.
Jeffrey Maloy, teaching associate professor of molecular cells and developmental biology, voted no on both motions.
“We supported an investigation, but we didn't feel like there was a sincere effort to gather information and do some soul-searching, find out what the policies are and whether they were violated,” Maloy said. “It seemed like an attempt to find a scapegoat.”
Maloy said he felt the censure resolution was unclear: Was Block's behavior scrutinized to censure him because the chancellor failed to meet protesters' demands? Was it that he didn't call the police quickly enough the night of the mob attack? Or was it that he shouldn't have called the police at all?
“I may have been persuaded to vote on a specific action tied to something specific, but this seemed incredibly vague to me and aligned with professors who wanted to claim an ideological victory,” Maloy said.
Michael Chwe, a political science professor and member of the Legislative Assembly who was part of a group leading the censure and censure campaign, said he still considered the votes “an achievement.”
“There were 50% of our faculty from across the university, including the medical school and the dental school, [who] we were for censorship,” said Chwe, who helped organize a letter signed by more than 900 faculty and staff members across the University of California system calling for Block’s resignation. The letter also called for amnesty for students, staff and faculty who participated in the camp and peaceful protests, the university's disclosure of all investments, and its divestment from military weapons production companies.
“Obviously we would have liked more support,” Chwe said. “This is the beginning of a lot of things people are doing to create accountability and protect student safety on campus.”
Chwe said those efforts included faculty support for a strike by United Auto Workers 4811, an academic workers union that includes graduate students, that is scheduled to begin Monday at UC Santa Cruz.
Renee Tajima, a professor of Asian American studies and member of the legislature, said the vote in favor of censure and censure was a “no-brainer.”
“Who was in charge while our students were beaten and injured and no one from the university administration did anything to help them?” Tajima said. “Imagine the students were brutally attacked and then the next day Block calls in this huge police force to arrest them and use rubber bullets on them. … This vote is the least we can do as teachers to make a statement of what is right and what is wrong.”
The Senate's decision removes one issue from the list of growing challenges facing the chancellor in his final six weeks in office.
In a letter Wednesday, Rep. Virginia Foxx (R.N.C.), chair of the House Education and Workforce Committee, requested that Block, Drake and Rich Leib, chair of the UC Board of Regents, will present all documents, communications and security videos related to alleged anti-Semitic events at UCLA since the Hamas attack against Israel on October 7.
The committee set a deadline of May 21, two days before a hearing in Washington, D.C., at which Block and his counterparts from Michigan and Yale will testify about anti-Semitism on college campuses, the next in a series of hearings in Congress in which the presidents of Harvard University, the University of Pennsylvania and Columbia University, and the superintendent of the Berkeley public schools have participated.
The vote on Block's leadership is the latest in several actions by American university professors over how administrations have addressed pro-Palestinian protests.
On May 8, the USC Academic Senate voted to censure President Carol Folt and Provost Andrew Guzmán over “widespread dissatisfaction and concern among faculty over administrative actions and decisions” related to the cancellation of the speech. farewell ceremony for a pro-Palestinian student and riot police clearing a campus encampment.
On Thursday, 61% of Columbia University School of Science faculty Arts and Sciences voted “censured” President Minouche Shafik, who is under fire for the decision to send police to arrest campus protesters last month, including students who occupied a university building.
Three weeks of unrest at UCLA began on April 25, when students set up camp on the campus's grassy quad to express solidarity with the Palestinians, condemn Israel's actions in Gaza, and demand that UCLA divest from companies that manufacture and deliver weapons and services to Israel. Initially, the camp was free of violence, and protesters participated in classes, art construction, yoga and other activities.
UCLA declared the camp illegal on April 30. Later that night, a violent mob attacked the camp and the students had to defend themselves against beatings, pepper spray, and fireworks for three hours. Law enforcement in riot gear arrived early on the morning of May 1, but it took hours to quell the violence.
Since then, several people have been blamed for the debacle. Internal and external investigations are underway.
