Today in Labor History May 15, 1969: Police fought students in the Battle for People's Park at the University of California Berkeley, California. The battle was over a small strip of land that the students had claimed as community commons. Governor Ronald Reagan sent in National Guards to reclaim the Park. Police gunfire killed a bystander, James Rector, and wounded 60 others, including Alan Blanchard, who was blinded for life. Street fighting continued for 17 days. Another 150 demonstrators would be shot and wounded. The battle for the park has continued ever since, with the university continuing to claim ownership and threatening to turn the park into everything from units of student housing to a parking lot. The defenders of the park have done numerous direct actions over the past 50 years to defend the park, provide mutual aid, provide free food and clothes to unhoused folks, and offer community classes. As recently as 2024, the cops have attacked, beaten, and/or arrested park defenders.

The regime launched an investigation into the University of California, Berkeley, on Friday
centered on foreign funding,
making it the latest university to be targeted by the federal government.

The investigation revives criticism from several years ago about the university’s partnership with China’s Tsinghua University.

It comes after Donald Trump earlier this week signed a series of executive orders focused on universities that he views as liberal adversaries to his political agenda.

One order called for harder enforcement of Section 117,
a federal law requiring colleges to disclose foreign gifts and contracts valued at $250,000 or more.

The Department of Education’s office of general counsel will investigate “UC Berkeley’s apparent failure to fully and accurately disclose significant funding received from foreign sources,” education secretary Linda McMahon said in a statement.

UC Berkeley denied the government’s claims, saying that for the last two years,
“UC Berkeley has been cooperating with federal inquiries regarding 117 reporting issues, and will continue to do so
#UCBerkeley
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/apr/25/trump-university-of-california-berkeley-investigation?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

"Roger Studley, founder and community manager of #Berkeley #Moshav, said the idea has been in development for more than a decade. He was first introduced to the concept of #cohousing while in graduate school at #UCBerkeley, around the same time he was reconnecting with his #Jewish roots after years of distance from #Judaism.

As Studley deepened his involvement in Jewish life, he began to imagine a blending of these two ideas. The result was the formation of #BerkeleyMoshav — a community where Jewish life will be one aspect of daily living, but where people of all backgrounds are welcome, he said."

https://www.dailycal.org/news/city/housing/berkeley-moshav-to-become-first-urban-jewish-cohousing-community/article_3d461ecb-495d-4c8f-95a9-9c20023270be.html

Lila Thulin: Meet three Black trailblazers in #STEM: Berkeley alumni Lloyd Ferguson, Mary Blackburn and Marvin Poston paved the way for Black scientists and engineers. Black Lives at Cal is developing a tour that spotlights their stories.

#ucberkeley #BlackMastodon
https://news.berkeley.edu/2025/02/28/meet-three-black-trailblazers-in-stem/

Ok we got one (1) R1 saying something, at last!

"we will stand up for Berkeley's values and defend them to the very best of our ability."

Was that so hard??

T•••• targets #UCBerkeley, UCLA, Columbia, GWU, JHU, NYU, Northwestern, UMinn, USC, for starters. None of which he or his hellspawn could get into on merit https://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/08/us/columbia-trump-colleges-antisemitism.html

#US / Israeli Postdoc sues UC Berkeley Student Union, Alleging anti-Semitic discrimination

Karin Yaniv, an Israeli postdoctoral researcher at UC Berkeley, has filed a federal lawsuit against her graduate student union, alleging that the union has created a hostile work environment for Israeli Jews.

Yaniv claims the union's actions, which she characterizes as anti-Semitic, violate Title VII of the Civil Rights Act and the California state law. The complaint details numerous instances of alleged discrimination, including the union making anti-Israel statements, supporting anti-Israel protests and the #BDS movement, and marginalizing Jewish union members. Yaniv seeks a court order to stop the alleged discrimination, require anti-discrimination training, and award damages. The lawsuit was filed in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.

Yaniv is represented by the Fairness Center. #Ynet published this story today with a typical hyperbolic "culture of anti-Semitism" in the headline, forgetting to explain to their readers that the so-called "Fairness Center" is a right-wing litigation center that primarily pursues anti-union litigation. It offers free legal aid to those allegedly harmed by public employee union officials. Nothing to do with anti-Semitism, it seems, rather union-busting.

https://www.fairnesscenter.org/cases/yaniv-v-uaw-4811-news-release/

PDF https://www.fairnesscenter.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/Yaniv-ECF-1-Complaint-Exs.-01.24.25.pdf

Hebrew https://www.ynet.co.il/judaism/article/hk67eknk1l

@academicchatter
@israel
@palestine
#IsraelOccupation
#IsraelWarCrimes
#UCBerkeley
#Antisemitism
#academicchatter

The only progressive N. Am. female prez with #UCBerkeley links

October 1, 1964 - The Free Speech Movement was launched at the University of California–Berkeley when mathematics grad student Jack Weinberg was arrested for setting up an information table for CORE (Congress of Racial Equality) in front of Sproul Hall, the administration building.

JackWeinberg #FreeSpeechMovement #UCBerkeley

1/2

Soon ⅔rds of North America will be under the rule of #Kamala and #Sheinbaum. It’s the kind of hegemony #UCBerkeley likes to talk about, not like the Manhattan Project

. @anirvan: “relatively few Indian international students at #UCBerkeley at that time… Shyamala would have been expected to return home after graduation, and… have an arranged marriage” https://www.berkeleyside.org/2024/07/21/how-kamala-harris-childhood-in-berkeley-shaped-her

#Kamala’s parents joined Afro-Am Assoc ‘founded… by… graduate and law students at #UCBerkeley,’ egghead inspiration to younger Black Panthers https://oaklandlibrary.org/blogs/post/the-afro-american-association-forerunner-to-the-panthers/

Presidentes #Kamala, #Sheinbaum would be two pioneering female leaders with #UCBerkeley grad school connections, from neighboring countries.

The ’80s Multi-Processor System That Never Was - Until the early 2000s, the computer processors available on the market were essent... - https://hackaday.com/2024/06/20/the-80s-multi-processor-system-that-never-was/ #universityofcalifornia #computerhacks #berkeleyrisc #ucberkeley #multicore #berkeley #parallel #research #lisp #risc #spur

Lots of helicopters over #Berkeley presumably about the #Cal #UCBerkeley Gaza protests.

I was looking for an Airbnb in the East Bay and there is UC student housing for rent on the site. That feels deeply bad and wrong. #ucberkeley

https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/1129818860030293565?adults=2&search_mode=regular_search&check_in=2024-05-01&check_out=2024-05-03&source_impression_id=p3_1714258403_Vhm9LVHVhP1I4Q2l&previous_page_section_name=1000&federated_search_id=7f2f9187-5207-48af-b2b5-7dd6d1d05901

Berkeley students set up tents on Sproul Plaza demanding divestment from companies that “arm and sustain the genocide in Gaza.”

This is how we got UC to divest from South African apartheid when I was there in the 80s -- this strategy has worked before!

#Palestine #BDS #FreePalestine #California #Protests #UniversityOfCalifornia #Solidarity #Berkeley #UCBerkeley

https://www.berkeleyside.org/2024/04/22/uc-berkeley-protest-sit-in-gaza-war-cal-investments

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/jvmMHJLvl9c

#BreakthroughNews

#UCBerkeley professor assaults #PalestinianStudent

#California #BayArea #FirstAmendment

Does anyone know if #CatherineFisk has been arrested?

#FreePalestine