By Brad Butterfield
On the heels of the week-long pro-Palestine protest and its dramatic 300 riot police conclusion, the administration decided to hold commencement ceremonies at the Blue Lake Casino, Eureka High School, and Eureka Theatre. A small army of security guards and police officers were brought in to ensure order throughout the 17 ceremonies, which were led by the deans of each college. The decision would come with a notable price tag and sparked further controversy and frustration within the campus community.
Why hold commencement off-campus?
Notification of the off-campus commencement ceremonies arrived by way of email on May 3, which also explained that the campus would remain closed through the end of the semester due to building safety concerns, an ongoing clean-up effort and ongoing investigations.
“Facilities staff on campus typically spend a month or more preparing for commencement, and that has not been possible,” read the university email. “There is no way, at this point, to get the campus ready to host graduates and thousands of guests.”
The university’s news and information department did not respond when asked what preparation had been underway prior to the protest, which began on April 22.
To some graduates, the reasoning for off-campus commencement seemed suspicious given that the Redwood Bowl–commencement’s typical spring location–had been unaffected by the protest. Among those not convinced by the university’s reasoning was Tori Budke, who graduated at the Eureka High School auditorium ceremony on May 11.
“It confirmed my suspicion that our school was trying to weaponize the student protesters against graduating students and against the rest of the student body,” Budke said. “They had to play along that narrative about there being millions of dollars of damage, and the best way to play along that narrative is not allow people to come to Ground Zero. Keep them away from where it all happened.”
Following the protest’s conclusion on April 30, an army of facilities workers began a well-coordinated cleanup effort. Photos taken May 1 show that most of the exterior graffiti had already been painted over with a coat of primer. The protesters’ barriers, tents, makeshift kitchen, and all other supplies had been removed by the university by this point as well.
According to Aileen Yoo, director of news and information for the university, the university disposed of perishable foods, and donated non-perishable packaged foods. Yoo also said that the UPD retained some personal items of arrested protesters, all of which have since been claimed, according to Yoo.
Everything else, “including broken furniture,” was composted, recycled, or thrown away, according to Yoo.
Yoo did not respond when asked which organization the university donated the non-perishable food to. Additionally, Yoo did not respond when asked what was done with the large number of tents, cooking supplies and toiletry items left behind by protesters.
Photos taken on April 30th at 7 p.m., 14 hours after the protesters were forced off campus, show dumpsters full of tents and supplies.
A very large price tag
According to documents obtained through the California Public Records Act, the university rented the Eureka Theatre for $5,000, the Sapphire Palace at the Blue Lake Casino for $2,904, and the Eureka High School auditorium for $982.50. The streets in front of the Theatre and High school in Eureka were shut down to traffic by local police.
The university hired AX9 Security, whose closest office is in San Francisco, to help with security on campus and at the off-campus commencement ceremonies. The university paid AX9 Security a total of $203,730 for around-the-clock security on campus from May 9 – 20, according to a contract obtained through the California Public Records Act. The out-of-town security racked up $19,800 in hotel costs and $15,958 in Per Diem charges, according to the contract. On commencement day alone the university spent $26,870 for 27 guards providing security on campus and at the three commencement sites.
AX9 contract for security on campus
AX9 contract for security at off-campus graduation sites
Despite the unarmed battalion of AX9 Security, on May 11, in the early hours of the morning, pro-Palestinian graffiti appeared on multiple university entrance signs. “Funds genocide” appeared under two prominent street corner signs with another reading “disclose + divest.”
Communication breakdown
After a dizzying two weeks of Humboldt Alert emails, confidence in the university sank for some in the campus community.
“It’s beyond me to think that they couldn’t just hold it at campus,” said Budke. “It seems like more work and more logistical planning to do at multiple locations and to organize all of that last minute. That doesn’t really make sense to me. It seems like they ended up creating more work for themselves.”
Communication, or lack thereof, throughout the protest sowed doubt into some members of the campus community. From the initial police response, to the campus hard closure, to the busloads of riot police – there is a growing number of unanswered questions about the university’s decision-making process.
“This just shows how a lack of transparency can cause a lot of issues,” said graduate Hannah Wohl Sanchez. “It makes sense why they want to hide everything though, because they don’t want the truth to get out. They want their narrative to get out, but I feel like that all circles back and makes it worse for them in the end.”
Six administrators were contacted for an interview, including President Tom Jackson and his Chief of Staff Mark Johnson. None responded.
University prepares for battle
An email from the university on May 9 detailed “parameters for a safe and positive experience,” which included restrictions against large bags and backpacks, poles attached to signs, and signs with “offensive language, as determined by event personnel.” The max allowed sign was 11″ x 17″ according to the email. The university had set up a mandatory “check-in” station at each of the ceremonies, which all attendees were required to register at before entering the ceremony. At the check-in, a “no-touch visual search” would be conducted, according to a May 9 university email. After the check-in process, visual inspection, and walkthrough metal detector, attendees of the Sapphire Palace commencement were joined by seven police officers stationed at each corner of the Sapphire Palace. The heavy police presence seemed an overreaction to Budke.
“It definitely throws off your energy when you’re like holding hands with your friends and you’re lining up to walk across the stage and get your diploma and within arm’s length there’s a police officer holding his belt, weapons in full view,” said Budke. “A lot of fearmongering, a lot of overmilitarization. It was unnecessary.”
Similarly, environmental science and management graduate Indigo Thorson voiced frustration that their final memories of Cal Poly Humboldt would be marked by heavy police presence, both during the final weeks of the semester and at graduation.
‘The good with the bad’
The abnormal gradation brought a familiar strangeness for those who had graduated high school during the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic. Among those COVID high school graduates was Nicholas Pelascini, who graduated with a degree in psychology at the Eureka Theatre. Pelascini said that although the experience “felt a little off,” he was simply glad that the graduation occurred at all.
“I was really looking forward to doing it at the Redwood Bowl,” Pelascini said. “You know, gotta take the good with the bad.”
For many students, graduation is the only time that family is able to walk the college campus and experience first-hand where the graduates spent their time. With the hard closure of campus and off-campus ceremonies, this was not possible. Worse yet, many students’ family members were no-shows due to the uncertainty surrounding the commencement.
“Some of my members weren’t able to show up because of this change that their administration made. And the people that did were really bummed because they couldn’t see the place that I spent my most time at. We couldn’t even go take pictures at the school, besides the front of the site,” said Thorson.
Additionally, the rushed planning for the off-campus graduations led to some details falling through the cracks. Sanchez, who had ten family members attend the ceremony, said the university was “not helpful” when she attempted to get information about ADA accessibility for older relatives.
Justo-Jose Tapia-Padron, who majored in freshwater fisheries biology, had only two of the planned 12 family members attend due to the uncertainty and confusion surrounding commencement.
“That was very disappointing. I have a lot of friends and family that are back home right now,” said Tapia-Padron.
Tapia-Padron added that the campus closure caused him an “immense amount of stress,” unable to access the library for weeks. Importantly, from his point of view, the university did what had to be done.
“They did as much as they could to remedy the whole situation.” Tapia-Padron said. “It was obvious that there was chaos and anarchy and the students weren’t listening.”
Notably, despite the short time to plan, many students commented that the commencement ceremonies were well-organized. Another bonus to the modified ceremonies was their brevity.
“I have a nephew who is three years old. I don’t think they could have actually done a two or three-hour long ceremony. Ours was only like 30 minutes,” said Thorson.
Administrators M.I.A.
President Tom Jackson, as well as his cabinet, were absent from the commencement ceremony stages. Instead, the deans of each college presented the diplomas and shook hands with the graduates. This was seen as a huge positive by many graduates. Sanchez said having the dean of each college lead, instead of unfamiliar administrators, made the ceremony feel more personal. Sanchez added that if Jackson was there, she would not have shaken his hand – a sentiment shared by both Budke and Thorson.
“I would kind of probably also feel this taste in my mouth, seeing [administrators] on the stage representing my accomplishment,” said Thorson. “If Thomas Jackson was there, I wouldn’t shake his hand, even if he attempted to.”
The administration’s absence from commencement added to a growing frustration with the university’s uncollaborative and uncommunicative leadership style.
“I think it’s a little bit cowardly to not show face. They’re probably afraid of what students’ parents are going to ask and they’re probably afraid of being confronted,” said Budke. “If you feel confident in what you did, and you feel proud of what you did as an administrator as well as a professional, then you shouldn’t have to hide.”
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