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Sixty-seven graduate students at the University of California, San Diego, are facing disciplinary action after protesting at an alumni awards event May 5, the Los Angeles Times reported.
Letters from the student affairs office accused the students of violating conduct rules by assaulting UCSD chancellor Pradeep Khosla when they “bumped” into him as they stormed the stage and took his microphone. But protesters argue that never happened, and according to the Times, a grainy live stream of the event provides little clarity.
The students said they were protesting the university’s failure to uphold a contract with the United Auto Workers 2865, the union that represents more than 36,000 University of California student workers, after the parties reached a settlement promising pay increases following a five-week strike last year.
Some students accused of misconduct claim they were not even present at the demonstration. One Ph.D. candidate hoping to graduate in December told the Times a witness had identified him in an image of the protest. But he said he has a time-stamped photograph and testimony from a campus staff member proving he was actually on campus when the demonstration was happening.
Students will be able to “to tell their side of the story” during the disciplinary hearings, a university spokesperson told the Times in an email.
The statement also responded to allegations that the university had breached its contract with the union.
“If unions or individual union members believe that the university is not in compliance with its contractual commitments, collective bargaining agreements establish orderly processes to file grievances and have them adjudicated. Calculated disruption of official university business is never appropriate,” it read.
