Weekly Commentary 8/3/20 #166: The Chancellor Calls for input on the Reform of Campus Policing

by Michael Burawoy | Aug 3, 2020 | Commentary, Weekly

Last week we saw an attempt to diminish the already limited role of faculty in the selection of Chancellors (see below). We are witnessing the increasing role of expensive “head hunter” search firms not just in the selection of Chancellors, but also in...

Weekly Commentary 7/27/20 #165: BFA Statement on John Yoo

by Michael Burawoy | Jul 27, 2020 | Commentary, Weekly

What is John Yoo, Berkeley’s notorious professor of law, doing to our fragile democracy now?   Best known for his 2002 “torture memos,” which legitimated the Bush administration’s torture of suspects, illegally held, in the aftermath of 9/11,...

Weekly Commentary 7/20/20 Was #164: Racist Inclusion?

by Michael Burawoy | Jul 20, 2020 | Commentary, Weekly

Last week the campus announced that Berkeley has just admitted the most ethnically diverse cohort of first-year students in more than three decades. “Freshman admission offers to African-American students increased by more than 40% and offers to Chicanx-Latinx...

Weekly Commentary 7/13/20 #163: Holding our Leaders Accountable for Radical Reform of Policing

by Michael Burawoy | Jul 13, 2020 | Commentary, Weekly

It’s been quite a week of news: the threat of revoking the visas of international students if they are not enrolled in “in-person” instruction; the announcement of a new President of UC, Michael Drake; and, at Berkeley, a spike in coronavirus cases...

Weekly Commentary 7/6/20 #162: What shall we do with the Campus Police?

by Michael Burawoy | Jul 6, 2020 | Commentary, Weekly

Last week, the Academic Council, representing the system-wide Academic Senate, sent a report to President Napolitano and to the Divisional Academic Senates, justifying 5 recommendations for the structural reform of campus security: Substantially defund general campus...