UC Berkeley Chancellor Announces Investigation of ‘Hateful’ Campus Posters

UC Berkeley Chancellor Carol T. Christ sent out an email to her community condemning “hateful” messaging on campus that she claims targets specific student groups.

“I am deeply distressed to learn of some hateful messaging that has appeared on campus recently that targets specific student populations, groups of faculty and administrators,” Christ wrote at the beginning of her email.

Some of the messages that were chalked onto the sidewalk in Sproul Plaza included “James Damore was right,” “Trump is Our Savior,” and “Berkeley Hates Free Speech Week.” Another set of posters plastered around campus by right-leaning students read “F*ck Your Commie Trash,” “Your City is Run by Thugs in Black Masks,” and “Mean Words Are Still Legal Words.”

Individuals on the UC Berkeley campus were filmed ripping down the posters last night.

Christ announced that the UC Berkeley police department has launched an investigation into those who posted “hateful” messages around campus. Christ went on to offer students affected by the messaging the contact information for the mental health and counseling resources at UC Berkeley.

You can read the email below:

Dear students, staff and faculty,

I am deeply distressed to learn of some hateful messaging that has appeared on campus recently that targets specific student populations, groups of faculty and administrators. I condemn these cowardly acts in the strongest possible terms. Our police department is investigating whether they constitute hate crimes and we will do all we can to support those affected. Please visit our Office for the Prevention of Harassment and Discrimination or UCPD if you have information about recent incidents or would like to make a complaint.

I want to make sure everyone is aware of services available on campus if you are in any way affected by these incidents. Students can find resources here. Faculty and staff can find resources here.

I urge you to read and understand our carefully crafted Principles of Community and trust that they will be a valuable guide to how we should treat our fellow community members:

• We place honesty and integrity in our teaching, learning, research and administration at the highest level.
• We recognize the intrinsic relationship between diversity and excellence in all our endeavors.
• We affirm the dignity of all individuals and strive to uphold a just community in which discrimination and hate are not tolerated.
• We are committed to ensuring freedom of expression and dialogue that elicits the full spectrum of views held by our varied communities.
• We respect the differences as well as the commonalities that bring us together and call for civility and respect in our personal interactions.
• We believe that active participation and leadership in addressing the most pressing issues facing our local and global communities are central to our educational mission.
• We embrace open and equitable access to opportunities for learning and development as our obligation and goal.

Berkeley is better than what these incidents reflect. Many things contribute to the fact that we are the nation’s number one public university, and a strong component is the care, respect and esteem which we have for our fellow campus community members. As we move into the events of next week, please join me in upholding these values.

Sincerely,

Carol Christ, chancellor

If you are a manager who supervises UC Berkeley employees without email access, please circulate this information to all.