The Burning Question for the New Year: What Will Come of the Pepper Spray Investigation
I note another Op-Ed, written this time by entomology professors Walter Leal and James Carey. Their central argument that the faculty should speak for themselves and that we ought to “abide by the vote of the majority regardless of the outcome” is fine, though it comes across really as too much inside baseball, embodying some internal battle for the university.But it does lead somewhat tangentially to an assessment of what it would take at this point to force Linda Katehi to resign. Let me back up for a second, because there is an important point and lesson in all of this – in matters like this, the first few days are critical to the survival of the leader.
I could not believe when I saw the release from UC Davis: “Occupy’s aftermath: 8,500 for cleanup and repair,” my thought was, really? That is what you are going to complain about?
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.
In yesterday’s column “viewpoints,” I wrote something that I think needs clarification in light of the response to a statement: “Call me a cynic, but I don’t see any way at this point that the findings from an investigation will be such that she has to step down.”
Entomology Professor Walter Leal’s letter, signed by over 206 other professors, backed Chancellor Katehi in the face of strong public and student sentiment that she ought to resign, sentiment bolstered by those such as English Professor Nathan Brown, the English and Physics Departments and the board of the Davis Faculty Association.
