Equity & Inclusion

UC Berkeley graduate students turned out in force at Cal on Wednesday to protest a proposed student tax hike they say could prevent non-wealthy students from pursuing graduate degrees. The rally mirrored many others that took place at universities around the country Wednesday.

The ACLU of Northern California is excited to announce the Free Speech for Equal Justice awardees at UC Berkeley. Through this one-time grant program, the ACLU of Northern California will distribute almost $17,000 among eleven student groups to host speakers who promote equal justice. The speakers include organizers, activists, poets, and academics covering topics on racial justice, immigrants rights, LGBTQ inclusion, and more.

Below is the full list of UC Berkeley awardees, the events they will host, and the grants that they will receive:

Five UC Berkeley students partnered with the Immigrant Legal Resource Center, or ILRC, to offer free legal consultations with immigration attorneys Thursday evening at Longfellow Middle School.

Op-Ed

On Oct. 18, a rule by the Department of Homeland Security, which allows the department to collect social media information of every immigrant in the United States, regardless of documentation, went into effect. This rule would also affect U.S. citizens who happen to interact with immigrants online by rendering their conversations vulnerable to government surveillance.

The University of California — birthplace of the Free Speech Movement — will open a center in Washington D.C. devoted to research, education and advocacy on issues of free speech and civic engagement.  

U.S. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos has rescinded 72 guidelines that outlined rights for disabled students, raising concerns within the UC Berkeley community about waning protections for students with disabilities.

Among the policies that were rescinded Oct. 2 were recommendations by the federal government that outlined how federal money would be used for equity in education for disabled students. The Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services wrote in a newsletter on Friday that these 72 guidance documents were “outdated, unnecessary, or ineffective.”