On Monday, UC President Mark Yudof appointed 12 members of the task force that will be headed up by former California Supreme Court Justice Cruz Reynoso, a professor emeritus at the UC Davis School of Law.
“My intent in forming this task force is to allow the UC Davis community to take a fair and uncompromising look at what happened on Nov. 18,” President Yudof said, “and also to make any recommendations it deems appropriate in light of its independent review of the facts.”
The work of the task force will begin upon delivery of a fact-finding report of the incident, that is being developed by outside investigators from Kroll Consulting, a firm internationally renowned for its expertise in police procedures, according to the press release from the UC Office of the President on Monday.
The Kroll report is expected to be delivered to Yudof, Katehi and the task force in early January, at the latest.
The task force will review the findings and, based on available information, assign responsibility for the events of Nov. 18.
President Yudof said the task force also is expected to make “recommendations to me and to Chancellor Katehi regarding improvements to police procedures, command protocols and campus policies and oversight structures that will help ensure that the rights and safety of nonviolent protestors and the entire campus community are protected.”
In addition to Justice Reynoso, President Yudof announced the following nominations to the task force:
- Patrick Blacklock, Yolo County administrator and immediate past-chair, Cal Aggie Alumni Association.
- Peter Blando, business services manager, Office of the Vice Provost-Information and Educational Technology, UC Davis, and past chair, UC Davis Staff Assembly (nominated by the UC Davis Staff Assembly).
- Alan Brownstein, professor, School of Law, UC Davis (nominated by the Academic Senate).
- Tatiana Bush, undergraduate student and former Associated Students senator (nominated by the Associated Students of UC Davis).
- Daniel M. Dooley, senior vice president, external relations, UC Office of the President and designated systemwide administrator for whistleblower complaints; alumnus, UC Davis.
- Penny Herbert, manager, Department of Clinical Operations, UC Davis, and staff advisor to the UC Board of Regents.
- Kathryn Kolesar, chair, UC Davis Graduate Student Association (nominated by the Graduate Student Association).
- William McKenna, law student, UC Davis (nominated by the Law Students Association).
- Carolyn Penny, director in International Law Programs and principal and mediator, Common Ground Center for Cooperative Solutions, UC Davis Extension (nominated by the UC Davis Academic Federation).
- Eric Rauchway, professor, Department of History, UC Davis (nominated by the Academic Senate).
- Judy Sakaki, vice president, student affairs, UC Office of the President and former vice chancellor for student affairs, UC Davis.
- Rebecca Sterling, undergraduate student and former Associated Students senator (nominated by the Associated Students of UC Davis).
In a phone interview with the Vanguard last week, Justice Reynoso told the Vanguard that he would be reviewing the report expected to be released within 30 days by former Los Angeles Police Chief William J. Bratton.
“The task will not be to investigate, the task will be to review the report that will be made and to give our own reactions,” the former Justice told the Vanguard.
The ultimate goal that he has, obviously, is to have the “reaction of the university community, including the students, to review the report, and we’re free to make any and all observations,” he said.
Cruz Reynoso was approached by an assistant to the President to inform him that the President was going to ask him to chair this committee.
“I confess that I expressed reluctance,” he told the Vanguard, “But when he [President Yudof] called, he persuaded me it was the right thing to do.”
—David M. Greenwald reporting
The make up of this committee includes students, so on the surface it does not appear as if the deck is “stacked”, or am I missing something?
Representatives of Wm.Bratton were at the Davis P.D. yesterday, requesting to talk with the Cheif of Police. So the ball is finally rolling. Still don’t know if these investigators have subpoena power. An investigation without subpoena power is toothless. Too many ways for culpable parties to hide the truth.
They don’t have subpoena power. Universities don’t issue subpoenas, they issue degrees.
ERM
I don’t think that any assumption one way or the other can be made on the fact that their are students on the committee. In my experience as a student and now with my kids being one recent grad and one student at a public university, the variability in views amongst the students is as wide as it is in the general population. I think it is the individual perspective rather than the stage of life that is more likely to be telling.
To medwoman: My point was that accusations that the committee is somehow stacked with only proponents of the police’s point of view will be unfounded…