UC President Michael V. Drake steps down
University of California President Michael V. Drake announced his departure from his role on July 31 after his five-year tenure. His presidency took place during a period marked by student protests, the COVID-19 pandemic, campus policing and budget issues.
“It has been the honor of a lifetime to serve as president of the University of California these past several years, and I am immensely proud of what the UC community has accomplished,” Drake said in a statement from the UC Office of the President (UCOP).
Drake helped develop safety protocols during the campus’s transition into remote instruction in 2020, aided by his medical degree in ophthalmology and experience as UC vice president for health affairs from 2000 to 2005.
“At every turn, I have sought to listen to those I served, to uphold our shared UC values, and to do all I could to leave this institution in better shape than it was before. I’m proud to see the University continuing to make a positive impact on the lives of countless Californians through research, teaching, and public service,” Drake said.
Drake was also credited with improving the system’s relations with California Governor Gavin Newsom and state legislators with a five-year funding compact that brought more financial stability to the UC. Newsom praised Drake’s accomplishments in a statement.
“President Drake took the reins of the University of California during the height of the pandemic and has led with grace and vision in the years since,” said Newsom in the UCOP statement.“He has used his decades of experience to advocate for better access to higher education for all Californians and has always fought for academic excellence.”
The system’s diversity, which Drake had a goal of increasing when stepping into the position, has risen. According to Drake’s letter, currently students from “underrepresented groups in higher education” make up 32% of UC’s total undergraduate enrollment, with Latine student enrollment up by 5% in fall 2023.
One of Drake’s final initiatives was launching the Systemwide Office of Civil Rights, an effort to increase public safety at the UC.
The search for a new president is currently underway. A search committee of students, faculty, staff, alums and Regent representatives is being appointed by Board of Regents Chair Janet Reilly.
UC bans encampments this fall
This fall, students at the UC may not prop encampments on campus, hold protests that block student pathways or wear masks that conceal their identities per directions from UC President Michael V. Drake announced Aug. 19 in a letter. The policies come after calls from community members to stop policy violations during demonstrations, as the student protests over violence in Gaza saw last year.
In his letter, Drake emphasized “Freedom to express diverse viewpoints,” affirming the right to protest and exercise free speech.
“The Free Speech Movement was born at the University of California. We are proud to uphold that tradition today,” Drake said. “While the vast majority of protests held on our campuses are peaceful and nonviolent, some of the activities we saw this past year were not.”
According to the Los Angeles Times, the president told UC chancellors that rights to free speech and academic freedom must not “place community members in reasonable fear for their personal safety or infringe on their civil rights.”
Also on Aug. 19, the California State University (CSU) Chancellor Mildred García and 23 CSU campus leaders announced a list of banned protest activities. The list includes bans on camping, overnight demonstrations and unauthorized temporary or permanent structures.
The systemwide enforcement at the UC breaks precedent from how the protests were handled in the past year. Previously, chancellors had the authority to handle campus protests as they saw fit. Students at every UC were able to prop up encampments on campus, although several were dispersed by police.
The announcement was met with mixed reviews from UC students, with some arguing the rule will infringe on constitutionally protected free speech, while others believe the rule is necessary to protect campus communities.
State withholds $25 million for UC to implement protest policy
Over the past academic year, pro-Palestine encampments across the UC campuses were met with different responses from campus administration. Some were dispersed by police the same day or shortly after being propped up while others ended peacefully after encampment protestors successfully negotiated terms with their administration.
Due to the un-uniform enforcement of rules surrounding free speech across the UC campuses, California lawmakers have directed Drake to produce a “systemwide framework” for enforcement of rules. The state is withholding $25 million in funding until he delivers a report on Oct. 1.
The UC has since released policies that ban encampments, masks that obscure identification and protests that block pathways. However, the UC Office of the President (UCOP) must prepare campus climate notifications to broadcast at the beginning of the semester regarding each campus’s time, place and manner regulations, which outline guidelines of protests and free speech.
“Moving forward, in close partnership with UC chancellors, President Drake is focused on learning from what transpired over the last few months and ensuring that we have more consistency across the system in how key policies are implemented and enforced,” UCOP spokesperson Rachel Zaentz said in an email, according to The Daily Californian.
Since the legislative decision, numbers obtained by the Los Angeles Times revealed the cost of protest management last academic year peaked at $29 million. Most was spent on outside law enforcement and security officers alongside graffiti cleanup, property repairs, waste removal and pest control — some counterprotestors released live mice into encampments. UC Los Angeles spent the most, putting $10 million on safety and security and $400,000 for building repairs, graffiti removal and other cleanup from March to April.
