UC Regents meeting canceled over fears of violence from San Francisco demonstrations

For the first time, a UC Board of Regents meeting has been canceled because of public safety concerns.

Several student groups across the state ““ including the University of California Student Association and organizers of Occupy Cal at UC Berkeley ““ and members of Occupy Oakland were planning demonstrations for the meeting on Wednesday, said UC Student Regent Alfredo Mireles Jr.

Late last week, university police approached the regents with information about “rogue elements” that would be present at the meeting at UC San Francisco along with nonviolent demonstrators, according to a joint statement released by Regents Chair Sherry Lansing, Vice Chair Bruce Varner and UC President Mark Yudof.

“They believe that, as a result, there is a real danger of significant violence and vandalism,” the statement said.

The regents were strongly urged to either cancel or postpone the meeting, according to the statement.

“Failure to (postpone the meeting) might constitute a reckless disregard of credible law enforcement intelligence. Ensuring public safety must be a top priority.”

Undergraduate Students Association Council External Vice President Joelle Gamble said that although she did not plan on attending the protests, she was disappointed that the UC Board of Regents meeting had been canceled pre-emptively.

Gamble said she understood there were safety concerns but said there have been enough safety measures at regents meetings in the past to prevent violence from breaking out.

Mireles said he was also opposed to the cancellation of the meeting.

“It is especially frustrating that there was really great mobilization for this regents meeting for students to show their reaction to decisions being made by the Board of Regents,” Mireles said.

No regents meeting in recent memory has been postponed or canceled out of concern for public safety, said Steve Montiel, spokesman for the UC Office of the President, in an email.

Cancellations or postponements are rare for the regents. The last time a regents meeting was changed was in the spring of 2009 because of an outbreak of bird flu, Montiel said. The meeting was switched to a teleconference.

Meetings have been canceled three times: in response to the Iraq War in 2003, the attacks of Sept. 11 and the 1989 Loma Prieta, Calif.

This month’s meeting will be rescheduled and the date and location is yet to be decided, according to the statement.

In response to the cancellation, Northern California protesters will instead rally and march in the San Francisco financial district, according to a statement from the ReFund California Coalition, a union-backed group.

Students at universities in Southern California, however, still plan to demonstrate at the California State University Board of Trustees meeting in Long Beach this week, Gamble said. Members of groups, including the ReFund California Coalition and the University of California Student Association, are set to protest the CSU trustees meeting.

Erin Conley, a member of the United Auto Workers union, which is a member organization of the ReFund California Coalition and represents about 6,000 UC postdoctoral researchers, said she felt the UC regents have chosen to put corporate interests above their responsibilities as regents of the university.

“A lot of these (regents) are some of the richest people in California, yet they haven’t done a good job standing up for students in California in sending a strong message to the state legislature to give greater funding for higher education,” Conley said.

Protests by the ReFund California Coalition shut down Wilshire Boulevard last week as protesters sat in the middle of the intersection, demanding increased funding for California’s public education.

A budget proposal for the upcoming school year, private donation revenue and retirement plans for employers were discussion items for the bimonthly meeting, which had been scheduled for Wednesday and Thursday. Tuition increases were not on the agenda.