Berkeley Crackdown Raises Fear of Move Backward

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/18/us/berkeley-crackdown-raises-fear-of-move-backward.html?_r=1

On Tuesday, protesters wheeled blackboards and pianos onto Sproul Plaza at the University of California, Berkeley. Thousands gathered near the famous steps for a day of teach-ins, music and speeches — one of the largest protests on the campus since the 1960s.

The university embraces activism as part of its official history. But as the Occupy movement spreads to Berkeley, some students and faculty members said they feared that administrators were turning back the clock, using harsh tactics to suppress political advocacy protected by university policy that grew out of the Free Speech Movement.

University officials said their decision to take a harder line against activities like encampments could be traced to three protests in recent years:

¶In 2008, four protesters spent nearly two years in a grove of oak trees in an effort to prevent the university from removing the trees and building an athletic facility. The ordeal cost the university an estimated $1.5 million for police overtime, legal costs and other expenses.

¶In 2009, more than 60 students clashed with the police after barricading themselves in Wheeler Hall for four days to protest increases in tuition. The incident cost the university $80,000 for police overtime and other expenses. The Police Review Board in Berkeley criticized university officials for their handling of the protest and called for better training of the university police.

¶Two weeks after the Wheeler Hall protest, Mr. Birgeneau awoke to find dozens of protesters surrounding his home on campus. Some hurled torches at his windows and smashed lights in his yard.

“I know that stung for him,” Claire Holmes, associate vice chancellor of public affairs at Berkeley, said. “He was terrified.” Ms. Holmes said university officials became concerned after watching developments at other Occupy protests, including Oakland, which at times degenerated into violence and vandalism.