Dear Campus Community,
The reopening of our campus has enabled our community to reconnect in meaningful ways over the past several months. We have cherished the opportunity to work and study together, after being separated for so long. We have celebrated the diversity of our campus community with recent events, including National Coming Out Day and Indigenous People's Day. Unfortunately, the joy of being back together in person has been complicated by a few voices disparaging our community values and disrespecting Berkeley students, faculty, and staff. UC Berkeley is committed to our Principles of Community, including the need to “affirm the dignity of all individuals and strive to uphold a just community in which discrimination and hate are not tolerated.”
We want to acknowledge that recent disruptions to campus life have significantly harmed many people, particularly those of the LGBTQ+ and Muslim communities. We do not believe that students walking to lunch or staff and faculty working in their offices should be subjected to extremist and hateful speech. While there are some limitations on how the campus may respond because of free speech protections, we are able to respond in several ways that include educating our community about their rights, ensuring adherence to campus time, place, manner rules, providing the campus community with support and resources, and partnering with campus organizations to ensure that our responses continue to meet the community’s needs.
You matter to us and there is support available if you have experienced harm. For mental and emotional support, any of these campus resources are a great place to start: for students, Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS) is available and for staff and faculty, Be Well At Work - Employee Assistance. If you want to connect with community, please contact the Gender Equity Resource Center, the Centers for Educational Justice & Community Engagement, or the Multicultural Community Center. There are also important staff, student, and faculty organizations that can provide community and support, including the student-led Queer Alliance Resource Center (QARC) and the Lavender Cal staff and faculty network.
If you are directly confronted and subjected to harassment that specifically refers to a protected identity, you may file a complaint with the Office of Prevention of Harassment and Discrimination (OPHD). You can find additional reporting options on the Addressing Sexual Violence & Sexual Harassment website. If you are touched or if your entrance to the campus is purposefully obstructed, you may file a complaint with UCPD. You may also report what you have witnessed or experienced at stophate.berkeley.edu. Whether you choose to make a formal report, there are many supportive resources available to you. If your ability to get to class or work in your office, has been disrupted, we encourage you to speak to your professor or your supervisor.
Why is hateful speech allowed to occur at all? Public universities have a unique obligation to allow speech of all kinds, and speech that takes place technically off-campus is also legally protected. To learn more, please visit Berkeley Free Speech. Amplified sound may only occur in Lower Sproul Plaza and Upper Sproul Plaza between 12:00 - 1:00 pm and 5:00 pm - 7:00 pm (reservations of the space can be made through the ASUC Student Union Event Services). If you see violations of this policy, please contact the ASUC Student Union through email at eventsservices@berkeley.edu or call (510) 642-1141.
While UC Berkeley has an important legacy in protecting the right to free speech, we have an equally important legacy of leading movements for social justice and doing what we can as a campus to create our own internal culture of care and support.
With you,
Dania Matos, J.D. Vice Chancellor for Equity & Inclusionshe/sher/ella