Editor’s note: This submission is an edited version of an open letter to the University. More than 270 members of UCLA faculty signed this submission. Please see the original letter to view the complete list of signatories.

Nonviolent student protests at the University of California change the world. Entire academic departments owe their existence to nonviolent student protests at the University of California. The nationwide student movement to end the Vietnam War can trace its beginnings to nonviolent student protests at the University of California.

As faculty and staff at the University of California, we believe that the ability to protest nonviolently is essential to our democracy and a basic human right that must be respected and protected. We bear the responsibility of ensuring the safety, welfare and basic human rights of our students.

After more than 108 students engaged in a peaceful protest were arrested, suspended from their courses and evicted from university housing on April 18, 2024, at Columbia University, with NYPD Chief of Patrol John Chell stating that “the students that were arrested were peaceful, offered no resistance whatsoever, and were saying what they wanted to say in a peaceful manner,” we believe that this basic human right requires our active protection.

Arresting or punishing students who protest peacefully and nonviolently on our campuses is antithetical to our university’s highest ideals of learning and scholarship and violates our university’s fundamental values of decency and respect. Especially during difficult moments of intense political contestation, it is essential that all members of our university community respect each other and not engage in authoritarian power plays. Our university has witnessed acts of police violence against students protesting peacefully – Davis in 2011 and again in 2020 – and suspensions, evictions and mass firings without due process – Santa Cruz in 2015 and again in 2020. These infamous and disgraceful actions damage our confidence in each other and must not be repeated.

In every action we take, we express our values as members of our treasured community. As our students stand up and use their voices, we will always do our best to support them and their basic human rights and thereby support our university and our democracy.