Weekly Commentary 9/7/20 #170: Zooming Energy for Better Times

One of the most striking and perhaps unexpected phenomena of the first week of classes has been the excitement of our students–like the beginning of the year in the old days. In the middle of spring semester, the university suddenly closed down and students were thrown into shock, crisis and despair. During the summer they were scattered and unsettled, but they have now returned with renewed energy, excited to come together again, even if it is mediated under Zoom. They are promising us a season of engagement.

There’s also new energy to continue the campaigns of yesteryear. The resolute struggle of Santa Cruz graduate students for COLA back in the days BC (Before Covid) is being continued in a new guise. The faculty group formed last Fall to support the striking students has morphed into the faculty wing of a broader coalition, UC Cops Off Campus. Growing out of conversations around anti-Black police violence and this summer’s nationwide uprisings, as well as UC’s militarized police response to the COLA movement, the group has set itself the goal of police-free campuses by next Fall. The group meets (virtually, of course) every Friday at 4 p.m.; if you want to participate, you can get the Zoom meeting number by writing to ucwideabolition@gmail.com.

More immediately, there is a call for a nationwide Scholar Strike/Teach-in to protest anti-Black police violence on the two days following Labor Day, September 8 and 9. Graduate students are hard at work, initiating department-by-department responses to anti-Black racism. Amidst and despite the cascading crises, there is a broad commitment to move forward to better times.

Michael Burawoy and Celeste Langan for the Board of the Berkeley Faculty Association.