Campus community speaks out on the changes to campus following April protest

By Brad Butterfield

Significant and lasting changes have come to campus in the wake of the pro-Palestine protest this April. Following the protest’s conclusion, multiple high level university employees resigned, nearly tens of thousands were spent on security cameras, and a new campus locking procedure was outlined, but then not carried out as described. In August, a groundbreaking CSU system-wide Time, Place, and Manner (TPM) policy was released, which has resulted in ongoing and spirited dialogue on the topic of free speech on campus.

Campus locking plan… or not?

A May 21 university email stated that most buildings would be locked most of the time. Students would need key cards to access buildings, even during normal business hours, the email said. The plan, which was not put into place as described, punctuated a series of administrative decisions which left some faculty frustrated with leadership decisions and communication.

“The free mobility of people in spaces is a huge part of the joy of things, which is chemistry students talking to communication students talking to faculty in the anthropology department,” said Maxwell Schnurer, chair of the communication department. “And that notion that you would imagine the constituency that you serve as a threat, and that you would need to make sure that only authorized people were in particular spaces at times, is a sad failure of the university.” 

According to James Woglom, chair of the faculty senate, the campus locking plan arose from a period after the protest that was marked by a distinct lack of trust between university decision makers.

“I think we were in a space in which multiple constituencies on campus had a deep level of distrust in each other,” Woglom said. “And not to say that we have healed that mistrust, but I do think at that time, it was another in a series of actions taken without shared governance and without a sense of an understanding of what our campus needed.”

According to a May 30 university email, the locking plan had been in the works, “for some time,” and did not stem as a direct result of the pro-Palestine protest.

The walking back of the locking plan came after considerable conversation and advocacy from both students and faculty, according to Woglom.

The campus locking plan is now “on hold,” according to Aileen Yoo, Director of News and Information.

On May 13, the university spent $29,367 on security cameras, according to public records. The purchase was not a direct response to the protest, but, “added a sense of urgency,” to an already formed security plan for campus, according to Yoo.

Extended sabbatical, transition, retirement, resignation

Multiple high-level university employees have resigned following the April protest. Peter Cress, who was interim chief of police during the protest and Tom Jackson Jr. who served as president resigned over the summer. Also noteworthy is the resignation of Frank Whitlach, a 17-year employee of Cal Poly Humboldt, who headed the university Advancement Division prior to resigning and embarked on an, “extended sabbatical,” according to a university press release dated June 7. Additionally, Molly Kresl, who was associate dean of students, resigned following the protest under undisclosed circumstances. Both Kresl and the university declined to comment on the circumstances surrounding her resignation from Cal Poly Humboldt. Public records related to the matter were supposed to be released on Oct. 18, but have been delayed. 

While some in the campus community see Jackson’s resignation as a victory, many feel the opposite way regarding Kresl’s departure.

“I don’t think losing Molly was a super great thing for the university,” said Sara Jaye Hart, chair of the department of history. “That’s a big bump, you know. But losing Jackson was… you know, that’s a success.”

System-wide Time, Place, and Manner 

A first of its kind, system-wide CSU TPM policy was released by the chancellor’s office on Aug. 15. The new TPM policy allowed each university the opportunity to adjust the policy to fit individual campus needs in the form of addendums. The summer release and lack of collaborative conversation in development of the system-wide policy frustrated many faculty members. A lawsuit filed by the California Faculty Association alleges that the chancellor’s office violated the Higher Education Employee-Employer Relations act during the creation of the new TPM policy.

“[Mildred Garcia] can’t just create a policy that affects our work without meeting and conferring with us,” said Tony Silvaggio, interim president of the California Faculty Association, Humboldt.

Regardless of the lawsuit, the top-down approach to governance across the CSUs has disappointed some campus leaders in Humboldt.

“It has a hierarchical feel to it,” Woglom said. “It feels imposed. It feels potentially oppressive, just by it being something that wasn’t made by us and was applied to us.”

The new TPM policy “obviously fails,” said Schnurer, who added that policies like the new TPM aren’t an effective way of preventing people from organizing.

“The most stringent laws in the most repressive states don’t prevent people from expressing themselves when they reach a critical point of deprivation,” Schnurer said. “It just kills the small parts of a university where, honestly, we should be talking deeper about some subjects, and student protesters bring attention to issues that the university might never perceive.”

The TPM policy’s release provided $75,000 in one-time funding for each university to aid in educational programming regarding the new TPM policy.

“$75,000 while we have student tuition and fees go up, we are cutting classes and faculty,” Silvaggio said. “It’s really disturbing.”

At a TPM presentation on Oct. 3, Chrissy Holliday, vice president for enrollment and student success, emphasized that policy is largely the same as the previous TPM policy which existed at Cal Poly Humboldt. 

“We took existing policy, procedures, all of that, and pulled it into the addendum framework that the system gave us,” Holliday said.

Regardless of its similarity to the old policy, many of the changes in the new TPM policy have concerned the campus community. Under the new TPM policy, Chief of Staff Mark Johnson will serve on the newly created Free Speech Response Team (FRST), which currently has 13 other members.

“It’s highly problematic that his name is on it,” Silvaggio said, noting that the faculty overwhelmingly voted no-confidence in Johnson due to his handling of the protest. “Both [Johnson] and the president’s decision to deploy law enforcement against student demonstrators resulted in direct physical harm of students and members of our campus community.

The FRST is tasked with implementation and enforcement of the new TPM, while the newly created Community Engagement Team (CET) is designed to de-escalate through conversation. 

“They are purely there to help maintain a safe and calm environment and to intervene and to try to have calming conversation,” Holliday said.

Holliday explained that the CET will receive specific training in handling protests. The effectiveness of the CET remains to be seen — and some are skeptical. 

 “I think having a team that says, ‘Oh, we’ll rush somebody over to listen to your complaints, you don’t need to protest,’ you know, kind of misses the point to a certain degree,” Schnurer said. “If it’s left in the hands of administrators, it’s going to be the same situation as we saw last spring.”

According to Silvaggio, the faculty interest in the CET stemmed from a lack of trust in the administration’s ability to safely handle protests.

Whatever its imperfections, the TPM policy change did ignite a campus-wide conversation regarding freedom of speech and of assembly.

“The fact that it’s engaged, as many people are in conversation about what free speech looks like and how to police … that is awesome,” Hart said. “It doesn’t mean it was rolled out perfectly or even particularly well, but it still has an unintended consequence of increased engagement, and that’s good.”

This article is the third of a three-part protest follow-up series. 

By Eli Farrington

On Oct. 10, the Cal Poly Humboldt Presidential Search Committee held an open forum in the Van Duzer Theater. The committee included a handful of members of the Cal State University Board of Trustees, along with a few faculty members and administrators from Cal Poly Humboldt. 

The open forum began at 11 a.m. sharp, with Committee Chair Leslie Gilbert-Laurie addressing an audience of roughly 250 students, faculty, and community members. 

Gilbert-Laurie began by stating that the committee was in the early stages of their search, and the purpose of the forum was for the board to receive input from the campus community on the qualities and traits to look for in the next Cal Poly Humboldt president. She then passed the microphone to CSU Chancellor Mildred García, who explained that the search committee would not be taking any questions about potential candidates due to the sensitive and confidential nature of the selection process. She continued by saying that the search would be nation-wide, and the board would use the insights gained from the audience’s feedback during their search. The other members of the search committee introduced themselves, and then the open forum officially began. 

Over the course of the next hour, attendees lined up behind microphones on either side of the auditorium to address the committee. 

“We need a president who will foster a community where students feel heard, supported, and engaged,” Eduardo Cruz, Cal Poly Humboldt’s Legislative Vice President of Associated Students, said. “Our next president should be more than a decision maker. They should be a physical and active presence in our campus life and community; attending events, engaging in conversations, and building relationships with students, staff, and faculty in order to create a sense of unity and belonging. A president who prioritizes this kind of engagement will help foster a campus culture where students feel supported, inspired, and empowered in pursuing their academic and personal goals. Together, let’s ensure that our next president is not just a figurehead, but a true advocate for our campus success and growth.”

Many of the audience members that followed Cruz’s comments shared the belief that Cal Poly Humboldt desperately needed a president who was active in the campus community, and expressed their disapproval of former university President Tom Jackson Jr.’s leadership and lack of involvement with the student body. 

Other members of the audience implored the committee to acknowledge Cal Poly Humboldt’s uniqueness compared to other CSUs and select a president whose leadership style would accommodate the particular needs of the university’s isolated campus. 

“We are the Alaska of the CSUs,” Professor and Department of Sociology Chair Josh Meisel said. “It’s not just about transportation, it’s about differentness, and that is so essential that this committee recognizes. We are so far away physically, culturally, and historically. So much is so different about this place.”

Many commenters shared beliefs that supported electing a president that embodied the true values of Cal Poly Humboldt, such as shared governance, environmentalism, community engagement, an active presence on campus, respect for students’ free speech, and an appreciation for the history of the university as a place of activism and protest. 

Assistant Professor Rouhollah Aghasaleh spoke on Tom Jackson Jr.’s lack of qualification for leading Cal Poly Humboldt, touching on the fact that the former president ran the university like a business rather than an educational institution. 

“[Our next president must] be one of us, not a CEO in disguise,” Aghasaleh said. “Let’s be honest, how many of us in this room are wearing a full suit and tie right now? We need someone who looks like they belong here, not someone we would mistake for an investment banker at a shareholder meeting. Our next president shouldn’t come in like they are leading a military operation. We are not asking for Humboldt boot camp. We need an educator– someone who knows how to inspire, guide, and dare I say actually listen. Whoever takes this job should have an established resume in working with shared governance. We are tired of hearing what we cannot do. We get it, there are rules, budgets, and policies, but we need a president who helps us find ways to get things done.”

As the forum came to a close, Chancellor Garcia thanked the audience for their input and wished the committee luck on their search. 

“Thank you again committee members for agreeing to serve in this process,” Garcia said. “This is one of the most important things that we do – choosing a new president. I know that each of you will take this charge seriously, and your commitment is deeply appreciated.”

Eli Farrington is the news editor for The Lumberjack. He enjoys playing guitar, ceramics, and keeping his finger on the pulse. 

Cal Poly transition continues with groundbreaking of $100 million engineering and technology building

By Savana Robinson

Eight golden shovels dug into a long pile of dirt as dozens watched. Moments later, a countdown, then dirt flew. This commemorated the groundbreaking of the new Engineering and Technology Building at Cal Poly Humboldt as part of the University’s transition to a polytechnic.

Cal Poly Humboldt Interim President Michael Spagna gave some remarks before the groundbreaking. In his speech, Spagna threw out numbers such as the $100 million behind the project, which came from California’s $458 million investment in the polytechnic transformation.

“This building is going to be symbolic,” Spagna said. “Not just in the transformation of Humboldt State University to Cal Poly Humboldt, but it will serve as a beacon for generations to come, for this region and beyond.”

University Provost Jenn Capps spoke about the workspaces that the building will feature. There will be 15 teaching labs, a machine shop, a wood shop, and a collaboration space. Capps explained some of the work that went into bringing the project to its current point.

“It was like 150 to 200 presentations I did in a year,” Capps said. “We were incredibly intentional as I reflect back on those moments, and I’m super proud that as I reflect today, our community is at our best when we communicate, collaborate, strategize, listen, invite people in, and we delivered on a promise which is reflected right here today.”

With sustainability in mind, the building will be the first built with mass timber for the university. According to the American Wood Council, mass timber is wood products made of multiple layers nailed or glued together, and is more renewable than steel and concrete. Associate Vice President for Facilities Management, Mike Fisher, noted that the use of this material for the building will reflect the beliefs of the campus community.

“It’s an innovative way to build using natural products,” Fisher said. “Embedded carbon and what we do with steel and concrete is a bit intensive, and this is a step forward to demonstrate who we are as a sustainable campus, what we value as a student body, and as a collection of people that work here.”

Fisher concluded by inviting President Spagna, Provost Capps, Dean Riggs, Chair of Engineering Eileen Cashman, Chair of Computing Science Dale Oliver, Swinerton Vice President Jeff Good, and Supervisor of AC Martin Danielle Martin to fling dirt with golden shovels as a ceremonial tradition.

“I’m honored to be part of this university and to work with everybody here,” Fisher said. “And keep our university moving forward.”

By Barley Lewis-McCabe

In a seminar lead by Sheria Gordon and Chrissy Holliday on Thursday, Oct. 3 in the Great Hall, students were presented with an overview of the Time Place Manner (TPM) regulations. The intent was to clear up confusion, but many students left feeling like they had more questions than they went in with. 

At the start of the school year, the campus was given $75,000 from the Cal State University system to support TPM education, with things such as community engagement, TPM-related activities, safety training led by campus law enforcement, and tie-ins with other planned events.

Time Place Manner regulations apply to all members of the community and anybody on campus, whether or not they are officially affiliated with the university. The most notable changes were the implementation of the Community Engagement Team (CET), and Free Speech Response Team (FSRT). These two groups are both responsible for making sure students are safe, and the TPM policies are enforced. 

The FSRT is made up of administrators whose jobs were already vaguely related to the subject. Their role is to observe events, determine proper action, as well as implement any policy changes, and make sure that the TPM policy is enforced. The CET is made up of student and faculty volunteers chosen by the Dean of Student’s office. They are responsible for making sure community members are safe at these events and have been trained in de-escalation techniques, as well as peaceful resolution strategies.

The FSRT is a part of the CSU-wide initiation of TPM policies, and thus exists at every school, but the CET is Humboldt-exclusive. One of their most central points was that the new regulations are, in Holliday and Gordons own words, essentially the same as before. 

One memorable moment was the discussion on spontaneous protests. In the TPM regulations, protests and gatherings with amplified sound have to be approved 2 days in advance. 

Some students took issue with this, one being Peyton Leone. 

“When something big happens, students have to hold that fear in their hearts for 2 days before being able to do anything,” Leone said.

When this was brought up, Gordon mentioned wanting to alter the rule around it, stating that she’ll, “look into it after the meeting.” 

The legality of protests as a whole in the TPM system was something discussed at length. The event was broken up into two parts, with a lecture at the beginning led by Gordon and Holliday, and then the students were split into two groups to discuss any questions they had about the TPM policies.

Last year’s pro-Palestine protests were on everybody’s mind at the seminar. Whether in making vague reference to past events, mentions of encampments, or even upfront discussion on it, it was clearly not forgotten. Elizabeth Loomis, an Anthropology student, talked about their distaste for what they believed to be administration’s hypocrisy around student action.

“The school wants to advertise itself as a place that supports student activism,” Loomis said. “Yet, they called the National Guard on its own students”. 

Some of the new system-wide TPM changes seem to be a direct response to the protests, specifically with limitations on unauthorized structures, restriction on free movement, vandalism, and a specific ban on encampments. They also restated that face covering for purposes of identity concealment is restricted, although there are exemptions for personal safety and religious reasons.

The protests were generally mentioned throughout the forum, with Gordon and Holliday both making general statements on mistakes made last spring, and discussions on student discourse, or activism. They also reflected on specific lessons learned, and what they’d do differently knowing what they know now when questioned by students.

“There wasn’t as much large-scale awareness of the TPM policy stuff,” Holliday said. “I don’t think everyone really knew the right way to go about it, or the resources that were there to share their concerns.” 

Holliday and Gordon had no comment on whether or not the university was responsible for escalation during the protests.

Interim President Michael Spagna was also in attendance. 

“There were a lot of lessons learned, and the only way to go forward is to hear from these experiences and grow from them,” Spagna said.

He also passionately agreed that certain university responses to last semester’s protest were handled poorly.
“There were a lot of things that people regret,” Spagna said. “In high-pressure situations, people are people. They sometimes make mistakes … so admit it, learn from it, and [discuss] what are we gonna do differently next time.” 

By Mia Costales

On Sept. 27, Professor Rouhollah Aghasaleh received a letter titled “Notice of Investigation Outcome” from Provost Jenn Capps, ending their temporary teaching suspension and allowing them to be on campus for the first time since April 30. The letter recounts the university’s final verdict in the investigation of Aghasaleh, who was present on campus during the pro-Palestine protests last semester, finding them guilty of violating campus encampment rules and regulations. 

“The University has received the final investigation report into your alleged misconduct arising out of the protest and building occupation at Cal Poly Humboldt in April 2024,” Capps said via the email sent to Aghasaleh. “The report made the following findings of fact: 1. In April 2024, you knowingly and intentionally violated the hard campus closure directive when you came onto campus without authorization and stayed overnight with the students. 2. On April 29, 2024 you ignored and violated police dispersal orders.” 

Despite this outcome, the university made the decision to end Aghasaleh’s suspension effective Sept. 27, the same day the email was sent. This decision came with the stipulation that they would not be teaching any accredited courses for the remainder of the semester and instead be given reassigned time — alternative assignments in lieu of traditional classroom teaching. Aghasaleh plans to use this time to work on projects and research, as well as continue to host teach-ins on campus. 

The teach-ins will be held as regularly scheduled, Mondays and Thursdays from 12 p.m. to 2 p.m., and are now located in Aghasaleh’s office in Harry Griffith Hall 223. Teach-ins are subject to moving to the student lounge on the same floor, depending on the turnout of attendees. Much like the community teach-ins Aghasaleh was hosting in the D Street Neighborhood Center parking lot, these too have a similar theme of touching on pressing issues such as gender, race, and class hierarchies. Assigned readings of feminist literature and room for open discussion are prominent components of Aghasaleh’s teaching methods in this environment. 

“Over the past four years, I have done plenty to uplift the name of Cal Poly and CSU, despite the critiques that I had,” Aghasaleh said. “I believe public institutions should serve the public for good. Those are not built and funded for the administrators’ convenience. I remain committed to [being] a proud member of this family. My case was — is — not about what I have done; it is about the discomfort my presence causes.”

While Aghasaleh has expressed their gratitude for being back on campus, they have also struggled with certain places, individuals, and environments triggering painful memories from last April. They describe being able to feel the gazes of those unhappy about their return, specifically from Provost Capps and from Academic Affair Admin. Still, many students and faculty have shown them kindness and welcomed them back with open arms. 

“Last year, I was celebrated for my research — receiving [the] McCrone Award — and I presented, Silence Breaking: A Story of Forgotten Bodies in the Classroom, where the audience, including deans and administrators, applauded,” Aghasaleh said. “The last line from the transcript of my presentation reads, ‘Schools as state institutions are particularly successful at producing docile bodies, or punishing the bodies that resist.’ But, when I embodied that very research, they turned against me.”

Since being back on campus, Aghasaleh has submitted their application for tenure and promotion. This is a seven-month process and the application must be reviewed by the Department Committee, then the College Committee, Dean, University Committee, and lastly, Provost. Aghasaleh will hear the final decision by June. However, they were informed that their reprimand could negatively affect their ability to receive tenure. In the meantime, they understand that their career is in jeopardy and are working towards healing and remaining human in such a time of uncertainty. 

“You may be waiting for the perfect moment to speak up, but that moment will never come,” Aghasaleh said. “You owe it to your students, your colleagues, your kids, and yourself. Otherwise, you are complicit in the dehumanization of this institution. I urge you to ask, ‘does this campus become better when scholars are pushed out? Does it become stronger when dissent is silenced?’ They might be able to remove our bodies from this campus, but they cannot remove the kinship we, as humans, have built. We do not make offspring, but we make kinship. That kinship remains, no matter what they do to us.”

Mia is a junior Journalism major and the Life & Arts editor for The Lumberjack. With an extensive background in music performance, she hopes to combine her love of music and the arts with her passion for localized news and activism to bring thoughtful and informed stories to the public. 

By Jordan Huber

EDIT: Updated with new information on the protest in the quad

Pseudonyms have been used for sources in this article.

On October 7, 2023, over 1200 people in Israel and its occupied territories were killed by Hamas operatives. It has been one year since the events that have taken place. With frustrations from both pro-Palestine and pro-Israel members of the community rising, both groups opted to mobilize on Monday.

March on the Plaza

A flyer was distributed both on campus and through social media platforms detailing a march to take place at noon Monday, Oct. 7. The group chose to meet at the recently painted David Josiah Lawson Mural at the D Street Neighborhood Center. By 12:30 p.m., the crowd had swelled to over 150 participants ranging from community members, students, and professors. Almost every person was masked, and those who were not were immediately offered a mask and a stick of chalk. The crowd varied in age from college students to elderly community members. They dressed in anything from all black clothing to colorful displays of rainbow garb.  Around 10 of the protestors donned high visibility vests to act as buffers between any possible counter-protesters, and to make sure any of the participants in the march would be safely able to cross any streets. Rick Toledo, a member of the Students for a Democratic Society of Humboldt, rallied the crowd with the use of a megaphone. 

“We are here today to rally together,” Toledo said. 

Protestors began marching up LK Wood Boulevard toward the university. Students carried signs written on Korbel Champagne bottle cases with phrases advocating for ceasing bombing in Lebanon and calling attention to the plight of Palestinians, since the inception of Israel and in the year since October 7, 2023. The crowd made their way to LK Wood and Sunset Avenue intersection. The Cal Poly Humboldt sign, subjected to frequent taggings of pro-Palestine messaging and even a car accident in the past, was graffitied with chalk linking the university with Israel and that the university is complicit in genocide. The crowd rested at the sign, and began erupting in chants directed at the passing vehicles.

“Judaism yes, zionism no,” the crowd roared over the blaring of horns and lunchtime traffic. 

Cars passing by honked in support, while some drivers gave a thumbs down to the actions of the group. The sun beat down as the protestors made their way back towards the mural, with the goal of reaching the plaza. A new leader of the march asked if the crowd wanted to begin chanting in Arabic. 

“Palestine hurra, hurra,” was heard as the protestors passed the library circle. Several of the protesters began splitting off to head back to campus, with the majority still determined to reach the plaza. The safety buffers helped escort protestors across the streets of Arcata, eventually reaching the Arcata plaza at 1:30 p.m. Speakers began addressing the crowd one at a time. Some read out handwritten stories, others implored the community to come together to care about Palestine and its citizens.

“What is happening to Palestine is what happened to indigenous peoples here,” Toledo pleaded with the crowd over the microphone. 

Around 2:00 p.m., the crowd began making their way back to the D Street Neighborhood Center, where they dispersed without incident.

Unrest in the Quad

A separate flyer circulated through social media that called for students to gather in the library circle on Monday at 11:15 a.m. The flyer advertised that students should, “Come have a pillow fight and give the admin a fright!” By 11:30 a.m., only four students had gathered by the tree, with one equipped with a pillow. This group eventually made their way to the Student Activity Center Quad at the heart of campus. They linked up with another small group of pro-Palestine protestors, who had already begun congregating in front of Siemens Hall. In the Student Activity Center quad, a table was set up earlier within twenty-five feet of the entrance to Siemens Hall in the afternoon by the Jewish Student Union. Each group stood in defiance of the other with flags of Palestine and Israel being carried by the light wind. 

Two signs sat on either side of the pro-Israel table: “I am an American Jew, ask me about October 7th” and “I am an Israeli, ask me about October 7th.” Both sides of activists did not cede ground to the other. Tensions rose as the clock moved past 12:00 p.m. Mentions of the growing crowds drew the attention of Dean of Students Mitch Mitchell, as well as other university administrators. Mitchell engaged with both sides and stood between both as frustrations climbed to a breaking point.

At 12:30 p.m., a person dressed in a yellow rain jacket began scooping red paint out of a crock pot with a ladle. Paint was splattered on Siemens Hall and the quad. Police were called due to a report of paint being thrown onto people associated with the Jewish Student Union. An email was sent out at approximately 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday evening by University Police asking for assistance in identifying the individual who was involved in the alleged assault with paint. 

A video posted last Wednesday morning of the protest in the university quad on Instagram by the account “humjews” appears to show the individual who the University Police are asking for assistance in identifying from Monday’s protest. A person dressed in black appears to tell another individual in a yellow jacket, who was holding a crock pot filled with paint, that they should get it on a nearby camera. Equipped with a ladle, the individual with a yellow jacket on began flinging paint in the direction of the camera.

“Don’t take pictures,” the crockpot holder said.

The individual wearing a yellow jacket claims that the red liquid is to represent Palestinian martyrs and blood of students from the protest in April. The video ends with still-frame photos of the camera that captured the video with paint on it, as well as another individual with visible paint marks.

Emotions remained high, and gradually subsided as the afternoon continued. Remnants of glitter and paint coated the quad and Siemens Hall for the rest of the day.

Reactions to Monday’s events

Two students, who chose to identify themselves as K and R, were involved in the march to the plaza protest. Both are sophomores at Cal Poly Humboldt and were motivated to participate in the event due to ongoing conflicts in Palestine and the Middle East.

“For me, I think it’s just important to stand up and not be complacent in genocide,” K said. “I think it’s imperative that we show that that’s not something that we align with, that we’re not comfortable with our tax money going to that, that we’re not comfortable with innocent Palestinian civilians dying, getting murdered.” 

“Yeah, and I think even though we’re such a small community, and a lot of people think that we are going to Humboldt and we’re kind of secluded and removed from issues around the world, it’s important to show that even in our isolation, we’re still paying attention to what’s going on, and we still want to make our voice heard,” R said.

Both K and R believed that holding the protest on October 7 was justified. 

“I think that it’s important to show that today marks the escalation from apartheid to genocide. I think resistance of people under occupation is always justified,” K said. “I don’t think that [the date of the protest] should be taken into account. I think it’s very important that we show that we’re upset that genocide is still going on.”

They believed that there should have been more radical action from the crowd.

“Personally, I think this talk of de-escalation needs to switch to talk of escalation,” K said. “I think once you have people put on vests and keep protesters in line, that’s like a volunteer police department. They’re just an extension of the state at that point.”

Other students felt that holding any kind of event on the anniversary of last year’s events was insensitive. Another student, choosing the name Ally, is a senior in the College of Arts and Humanities. Ally self-identifies as a practicing member of the Jewish faith. 

“I don’t think that that was the day for people to be protesting, either against or pro-Israel,” Ally said. “I don’t think it was appropriate to spend the day yelling and in conflict, being violent and aggressive towards each other.”

Ally felt that both the choice to hold the protest on October 7 and the actions of pro-Palestine protestors was counterproductive.

“The fact that they’re protesting on October 7 is a complete disregard to the amount of grief and violence that occurred last year, and the amount of grief and violence that occurred every day after to protest on October 7 is to disregard all the lives that have been lost now,” Ally said. “The actions directly — the notion of the pillow fight that was advertised, the paint and pretty much the conflict that ensued. The tension, all of that tarnished the memories of all lives that were lost.”

Jordan is a senior political science major and the president of the Politics Club. With a keen interest in current affairs and a passion for informed debate, Jordan brings a well-rounded perspective to their opinion column. Through their studies and leadership, Jordan is dedicated to exploring the complexities of political issues and fostering meaningful discussion.

By Brad Butterfield

From the initial police response, to the weeks-long “hard closure” of campus, and on to the busloads of police in riot gear which finally ended the pro-Palestine protest in April — the university administration’s decision-making during and after the protest has sparked confusion and criticism among many the campus community. Recently released public records, including body-worn camera footage and administrative communications, have shed light on how and why decisions were made this April.

Body-worn camera footage, April 22

“I don’t have any fears for my safety or anybody else’s safety,” said Chief of Staff Mark Johnson on April 22 during the first hour of Cal Poly Humboldt’s pro-Palestine protest, which received international coverage. 

“This is not a violent group … they’re just misguided,” Johnson said, responding to Sergeant Andy Martin’s offer for an escort out of the building. Martin’s body-worn camera (BWC) recorded this key moment during the protest’s infancy.

Among the first protesters in Siemens Hall on April 22 was Jack McCann, a senior studying environmental science. McCann described the initial protest plan as an “open occupation.”

“Business would continue to run, the university would be able to remain open — the people would be able to work in their offices and be in classrooms,” McCann said. 

The occupation would not be tolerated by Johnson, who directed Interim Police Chief Peter Cress to remove the protesters from the building around 5 p.m., according to BWC footage. Johnson emphasized that the protest group would not be permitted to “camp out” in Siemens Hall. “They are free to go out on the quad and voice their political opinion all day… and all night, as long as they’re not sleeping on campus property,” Johnson said while Martin’s BWC recorded.

At 5:06 p.m., Cress recommended the formation of the Emergency Operations Center (EOC) to Cris Koczera, Director of Risk Management & Safety Services. The protest group refused to leave Siemens Hall, prompting the University Police Department (UPD) to call for backup. Then, violence broke between protesters and a combined police force of at least four Humboldt County law enforcement agencies who had joined the UPD. Several protesters were arrested before nightfall. Law enforcement left the quad before 11 p.m., by which point the protest group had grown considerably.

Just before 9 p.m. on April 22, the university sent out an email referring to the protest as a “dangerous situation” and announced that campus would be closed through April 24.

Of the six known UPD officers who responded to the original call, only three officers’ BWC footage was released. Cress, who’s BWC footage was the most complete, had a 2.5 hour gap of missing footage beginning at 7:40 p.m. The university stated they did not have any responsive documents in response to a public records request for Lt. Janelle Jackson’s BWC footage, whose camera is shown to be recording in Cress’ footage. The university clarified that Jackson was —allegedly unintentionally— using an unassigned backup camera that was not registered to any officer in the BWC system. Despite contacting the vendor, the university was unable to retrieve any of Jackson’s footage, according to Joy Finney, a staff member in the president’s office. A 2020 receipt for Wolfcom BWC equipment shows a $1,595 charge for a 24 TB external harddrive, five technical support plans totalling $6,000, and an annual fee of $500 for backup and recovery service.

Three-letter leadership teams

Throughout the protest, the EOC made recommendations to the Policy Management Group (PMG). From there, the PMG made decisions, according to an email sent on Sep. 11 signed by President Michael Spagna. The PMG consists of the president, vice presidents, chief of staff, special assistant to the president for tribal & community engagement, the athletics director, university counsel, and government relations, according to the university-wide email. Members of the EOC have not been made public despite repeated inquiries to the university’s News and Information office. Aileen Yoo, director of News & Information, advised that members of the EOC are not revealed due to the evolving nature of its membership, as well as safety concerns. 

“The university has reason to believe members may potentially be harassed,” Yoo said.

Spagna’s Sep. 11 email also states that the university is committed to transparency and wants to clear up misunderstandings about, “decision-making and leadership during emergency situations.”

Spagna, Johnson, and Cress, along with five members of the PMG, were contacted for an interview for this article. None granted an interview. 

As the week wore on

Primarily, the university communicated throughout the week-long protest by Humboldt Alerts sent via email. A Humbodlt Alert sent on April 27 informed the campus community of a hard closure of campus. Of the decisions made by the EOC and PMG throughout the protest, the hard closure of campus was among the most controversial.

“It’s the escalation, from the initial attempts to dislodge folks from the building, right?,” said Tony Silvaggio, Interim California Faculty Association President. “The overreaction…. It started there, and then came the closure, the decision to close campus. It’s really hard to make sense of the decision-making of administrators at the end of the spring.” 

The CFA filed an unfair practice charge with California’s Public Employer Employee Relations Board in May due to the hard closure of the campus.

Recently released public records give insight into the framework by which the university’s decision-makers orchestrated their response. Johnson, in response to a concerned faculty member, outlined a fundamental distrust in the campus faculty in an April 28 email. “These are crimes committed by young adults who have been misguided (at least in part by faculty at this university) into believing that their cause justifies this criminal activity, and that there should be no consequences for their actions,” Johnson said. “You must understand that the behavior of this faculty, outside of the little echo chamber that we live in, is seen as shameful and harmful to our students.”

In addition to the EOC and PMG, the chancellor’s office was in “constant communication” with campus leadership throughout the protest, according to Amy Bentley-Smith, a spokesperson for the chancellor’s office.

Governor Gavin Newsom did not respond to an interview request and neither the university nor his office would confirm or deny his involvement in the protest’s response.

April 30, the end

On April 30, Cress led an impressive force of police in riot gear onto campus in the early hours of the morning, putting an end to the historic protest. Where the initial police response on April 22 was marked by confusion and chaos, the second attempt saw a fleet of officers prepared for a fight, had it come their way.

“Remaining demonstrators have shown a strong commitment to their pro-Palestinian and anti-law enforcement ideology and there is a strong possibility of violence against responding officers,” read the SFPD’s tactical support document, obtained through public records.

In addition to the SFPD, at least six other agencies sent officers for the April 30 operation. Among the remaining protest group on April 30 was McCann, who described the lasting impact the tremendous show of force had.

“It made me feel scared, you know, scared for my own personal safety,” McCann said. “But, it really violated any trust that I might have had… that this was an institution that valued, you know, not necessarily truth, but open discourse. Any threat to their power is perceived as violent.”

For Silvaggio, the iron-fist response was both unsurprising and representative of former President Tom Jackson’s style of leadership.

 “It was emblematic, however, of the approach of the president and his administration of the last four years, right?” Silvaggio said. “It was emblematic of their approach to students, to student concerns and demands.”

This article is the second of a three-part protest follow-up series. 

By Brad Butterfield

The university-led police response to the pro-Palestinian protest on April 22 was unnecessary and operational planning was “regrettably deficient,” according to an independent review by the OIR Group, a police oversight and review firm. A week later, hundreds of California law enforcement officers marched onto Cal Poly Humboldt’s quad in an impressive stamp of authority. Public records show that on April 29 and 30 alone, law enforcement labor, catering, and lodging cost the university at least $475,872. In total, the week-long protest cost the university $2.9 million, according to the university’s news and information department. Adding to the protest response’s dramatic expenditures was a six-figure bill for unarmed private security who patrolled campus for 12 days in May following the protest’s conclusion.

Pandemonium at Siemens Hall, April 22

The ‘open occupation,’ as described by some original protesters, of Siemens Hall on April 22 devolved rapidly into total chaos by dusk. Before the sun had set that day, several students were arrested as tensions flared between law enforcement and the protest group. By 9 p.m., the protest group had grown considerably, but so had law enforcement’s numbers. The Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office (HCSO) was the first outside department to provide tactical support to the University Police Department (UPD). They were soon joined by 15 Arcata Police Department (APD) officers and 18 Eureka Police Department (EPD) officers, according to public records. At 10:40 p.m., after nearly six hours of failed efforts to gain control of the protest, law enforcement left the quad to a chorus of protesters shouting, “Cops go home.” An independent review by the OIR Group, commissioned by the city of Eureka, found that “operational planning was regrettably deficient,” and said that there was, “no urgent need for law enforcement intervention,” on April 22. The university’s new interim president, Michael Spagna, said in a recent school-wide email that the university is conducting its own review of the police response, which will be facilitated by the California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services.
Law enforcement, by the hundreds

 After the protest’s dramatic opening night, an occupation of Siemens Hall began and barricades were constructed at entrance and exit points of the quad. Then, on the evening of April 29, hundreds of protesters braced for impact as Interim Police Chief Peter Cress’ dispersal order warning of the potential for kinetic projectiles and/or chemical agents echoed throughout campus. The message rang from 10 p.m. until the early hours of the morning. Around 3 a.m., hundreds of police in riot gear marched on campus, taking back control of the quad.

Of the six documented law enforcement agencies that provided tactical support on April 29 and 30, the most costly was the California Highway Patrol (CHP), whose bill totaled $266,255. HCSO’s tactical support totalled $39,471. The APD sent only six officers, costing the university $2,023 (assuming no benefits associated with the overtime pay). The Eureka Police Department (EPD) sent 11 officers who received a combined 75.75 hours of overtime pay in cash. EPD did not provide the hourly overtime rate of pay per officer and did not respond when asked. Lastly, the San Francisco Police Department’s bill totaled $70,684. “Thank you for your business,” the 42-page SFPD’s bill concluded.

Public records detailing the UPD expenses during the protest were requested on May 1 but have not yet been released. 

An itemized breakdown of all costs associated with the protest and its response, provided by the university’s Director of News & Information Aileen Yoo, quotes $267,000 for the CSU Critical Response Unit & Mutual Assistance, while UPD operations are quoted at $45,500.

In total, according to Yoo’s itemized list of expenses, law enforcement costs totaled $1,248,500 during the protest.

Cress, Chief of Staff Mark Johnson, Chancellor Mildred Garcia, and Governor Gavin Newsom were contacted for an interview for this article. None granted one.

All expenses paid

Mobilizing hundreds of law enforcement officers from across northern California is the beginning of a large bill. According to the SFPD bill, obtained through public records, food, lodging, and fuel costs were covered by the university. In total, lodging for the legions of out-of-county officers cost the university $59,526 spread between eight hotels across Humboldt County. The university has not yet fulfilled a May 1 public records request for gas compensation costs during the protest.

Business was booming for Humboldt Dining during the week of the protest. From April 26 to May 1, the university spent $56,339 on catering, according to public records. This included $4,819 in Emergency Operations Center (EOC) meals and beverages. The April 29 and 30 alone cost the university $37,913 in catering expenses. In fact, a single work order dated April 30 totals $13,185 for 125 breakfasts, 150 lunches, and 175 dinners.

Punctuating the exorbitant spending surrounding the protest was a $203,730 charge for unarmed security for 12 days in May, through a private security firm called AX9 based out of the Bay Area, according to public records. 

Footin’ the bill

The university estimates the total financial impact at $2.9 million, but expects the number to grow as repairs continue, according to Yoo.

 “That cost includes approximately $1.6 million in physical damage to the campus, in addition to emergency operations,” Yoo said. 

Work orders detailing repair work done to Siemens and Nelson Halls since the protest were requested in August, but have not yet been released by the university.

Additionally, emergency, admin & overtime pay is quoted at $198,741, according to Yoo. The university claims $60,091 in revenue losses, $80,000 in call center expenses, and another $71,112 in additional costs for the off-campus commencement ceremonies.

 According to Yoo, the university is in the claims process to determine which costs will be covered through insurance and which will be the university’s costs to bear. 

Following the protest, Cress resigned from the UPD, as did Tom Jackson Jr from his presidency. Jackson’s resignation, according to the university, had been planned since spring. His resignation was described as a, “transition,” by the university, as he’s now a tenured faculty member. Johnson, who’d been a key decision-maker during the protest, was appointed as interim vice president for university advancement — in addition to his role as chief of staff. 

The financial spectacle generated by administrative decisions has frustrated and confused many in the campus community.

“If it was a business, a truly cut-throat corporation, all of those administrators would be fired because of the cost to the taxpayers for their poor decisions,” said Tony Silvaggio, Interim California Faculty Association President. “They took that extreme measure for something that wasn’t extreme.” 

This article is the first of a three-part protest follow-up series. 

By Barley Lewis-McCabe

On Tuesday, Sept. 14, a man named Keith Darrell — who identifies himself as the Campus Preacher — visited the Cal Poly Humboldt campus. Campus preachers aren’t uncommon, or even unexpected given the school’s proximity to several churches, but Keith’s from Idaho, and his fellowship is located in Ohio. He explained his plan of driving down from Seattle to preach in San Francisco, he said he was drawn to our university due to its open-minded reputation, and he came to have a dialogue. Keith has visited a number of campuses around America, including Cal Poly Pomona. He began preaching in the quad around 12 p.m., near Nelson Hall East, and a large group of students quickly began to form. As he continued talking, he began to say things students took offense to.

“Homosexuality is unnatural,” Keith said. “Men, you are not meant to have something put in your anus … I should be allowed to drop N-bombs!” 

This event called into question whether preachers should be allowed on college campuses, especially if they are making inappropriate remarks toward students. Some students began challenging his beliefs, either with their own logic or their personal knowledge of the Bible. 

Despite his claims to be here simply to talk, he continued to preach on topics the crowd found to be shocking and offensive, at one point going on an unrelated tangent about how cannibalism isn’t wrong. As he began to make more eccentric claims, students began to protest in more comedic ways, such as singing Les Misérables, handing out phallic balloon animals, and waving pride flags at him. About halfway through his sermon, some representatives from the Eric Rofes Multicultural Queer Center (ERC) showed up to counter Keith’s homophobic rhetoric and to hand out Narcan, safe sex supplies, water, and pride flags. 

Jesse Benefiel, Volunteer & Resource Director of ERC, was one of those handing out supplies to students. 

“Just, make sure that they know that our voices are here too,” Benefiel said. “While there may be people like that out there, there are also people on the other side willing to support everyone here.” 

Some people chose more aggressive measures, getting up-close with Keith and yelling in his face. The person who got the most aggressive with him did not appear to be a student, did not give any other information and insisted that Keith is just a troll, and students shouldn’t give him attention. 

Administrators and police officers were monitoring the scene to make sure it didn’t get violent. When asked if his sermon, which extended past lunchtime, violated the new Time, Place, and Manner regulations, admin representatives declined to give a statement. 

Cal Poly Humboldt is a public campus, which allows Keith free speech. He’s allowed to preach his beliefs, but students are also within their rights to respond to rhetoric they disagree with. Students saw a man spreading, what they believed to be, hateful messages against women, BIPOC and queer people, and the Cal Poly Humboldt community, and took a stance against it.

The students unified in response to the speaker.

“As you stand here, you are the minority,” Jacob Carter, a freshman, said. “We are the collective, we are unified.”

By Andres Felix Romero

For the first time, Cal Poly Humboldt’s acting and prospective interim President Michael E. Spagna sat down with Lumberjack reporters for an interview to discuss his character and leadership philosophy. This Q&A took place on Tuesday, Sept. 16.

Welcome to Humboldt! Is there something you connect most with the campus?

“I have to tell you — the larger mission of this university. I love the fact that there’s forestry, there are fisheries, it’s very unique for this campus. [What I also] really love about this region is everybody’s so engaged: civic politicians, the students, alumni, everyone that I meet has either gone here or knows somebody that went here. So, this is a unique opportunity at Humboldt. When I was down in Los Angeles, you’re one of seven Cal State Universities. So, you know, people have different kinds of affiliations. But, here at Humboldt State, now Cal Poly Humboldt, [the community] is unique to this region.” 

The Board of Trustees Votes next week to confirm your position as interim president. Do you want to be our interim president? Why?

“I absolutely want to be interim president …  I’m a long-time educator, and so I know how important it is when you have these rare opportunities at a university to transform what the university is about.”

What have you done so far to integrate yourself into the community? What do you plan on doing in the future?

“First and foremost, I want to spend time in community with the faculty, the staff and the students. So, everything that I’ve tried to do over the first three weeks is to be in community with, especially, the students.” 

“I also had the great honor of going to the student Experimental Film Fest this past Friday. It was great, it was 90 minutes of student films. And one of the assistant professors there invited me to a film, invited me to come and sit in and I just loved it. My wife was up visiting from Los Angeles, and we sat and saw all the student films.”

“The second thing is being in community with faculty. So, one thing that I’ve done there is I’ve really paid attention to being with the University Senate, and I’ve been to Senate exec meetings, and I’ve also been to full University Senate meetings with the faculty.” 

“That’s what a modern president needs to do. You know, presidents in the Cal State system, you need to do both. You need to be in community with students and faculty and staff, and you also need to be in community with the outside leaders in the cities that we serve. I have a rule, which is; if I’m spending more than 30 minutes at my desk, I’m not doing my job.”

You have a lot of constituents to answer to. How do you plan on trying to hear everyone?

“I can’t do it alone, so I’m going to have to be in a community with other leaders on the campus. If you try and do it just by yourself, you’re never going to finish that. It’s going to be overwhelming. But if you wind up relying on others as part of leadership groups, then you can help.” 

“So, for instance, this morning, I actually met with the head of Associated Students, the head of the Staff Council, the head of the University Senate, and the heads of a whole bunch of other groups on the campus. As a group together, we’re going to have to work together to repair relationships and restore trust in [the community].”

Last semester was a monumental event in our campus’ history. It resulted in some mistrust across campus. How do you plan to address this and rebuild trust within the community?

“My philosophy is, you’re going to have to do it at some level, one student, one staff, one faculty member at a time. You’re going to have to be in spaces where you’re supporting them. You’re listening to them. It all starts with active listening. ‘What was your experience? How did you experience it?’ We need to acknowledge [the individual experiences of the community].” 

“Then we need to talk about, structurally, what do we need to do as a university to make sure that we honor the fact this university has a great history of advocacy and activism? The thing that was different in April was that I think communication broke down. Communication didn’t exist amongst all these groups; faculty, students, staff, leadership, and administration. So [communication] is going to be a big thing for me.” 

“Recently, we had a situation where students had a vigil. There’s no substitute for being in community [with people], so I was there in case they have questions. At the end of the day, my job is as an educator, and so I’m there to try and be there for support.”

Being the campus President comes with lots of responsibilities. Most of all, people look to you regarding challenges on campus. How do you take care of yourself in preparation for these challenges?

“My regular therapy is really taking incredible joy in what the students are doing. And I just love that I don’t need respites from [education]. At the end of the day, we’re serving, in many cases, first generation students. This is transformative. So I celebrate with their families. It’s gonna sound weird, but I take such joy in those stories and what happens with students. That’s why I’ve never left teaching.”

Who would play you in a movie?

“I’ll tell you a funny story. In West Side Story, there’s a character named Tony. He was played by a guy named Richard Beamer. Richard Beamer later came to fame as the hotel owner in the show Twin Peaks. But, when I first went to Los Angeles, I walked into a flower shop and the person there said, ‘Can you please sing to me, Maria, because you look just like Tony from West Side Story!’”

What is your favorite food?

“I grew up on cheesesteaks and hoagies, so I love everything. My wife has a palate a millimeter wide. She won’t eat anything. I eat all foods; Thai food, Indian cuisine, sushi, sashimi, you name it. I’ll try and eat it.”

What is a place you would travel to if you didn’t need to worry about budget?

“Somewhere really off the beaten path, somewhere where I would not otherwise …  I would probably say Tibet, just because in my mind, it’s this historical spiritual place. I’d love to just go and be there [rather than] other places that might be more opulent, more touristy, but I’d like to just get the energy from Tibet.”

How Cal Poly Humboldt plans to enforce Time, Place, Manner Policies change

by Savana Robinson and Eli Farrington

After a historic week-long protest and occupation at Cal Poly Humboldt, activism, which is at the heart of campus culture, may be impacted. On Aug. 15, less than two weeks before the start of the fall semester, the California State University (CSU) system adopted a systemwide change to the Time, Place, and Manner (TPM) policy.

TPM is a set of rules that determine the time, place, and manner in which expressive activity may be conducted on campus. On the first day of the semester, Cal Poly Humboldt announced its recruitment for the Community Engagement Team (CET). The team was created to support a nonviolent, accessible, and inclusive campus environment, and to educate the campus community on freedom of expression in compliance with TPM Policy.

All CSUs have their own addendum of the TPM Policy — a version of rules that apply in the context of each university. These addendums were also updated to reflect the TPM changes. For example, Cal Poly Humboldt’s addendum requires approval prior to distributing or posting informational material, which includes signs, chalk, and posters. It also specifies that campus is closed to the public from 11 p.m. to 7 a.m., prohibiting overnight camping or encampments without permission beforehand. According to the Dean of Students and Associate Vice President of Student Success Mitch Mitchell, administration has been working on TPM for more than a year.

“Our focus is more of an educational approach,” Mitchell said. “It’s not a point that we’re trying to minimize or censor free speech. We just don’t want it to become a situation where it becomes unlawful.”

Such situations include last semester’s pro-Palestine protest and occupation of Siemens Hall from April 22-30. Former University President Tom Jackson Jr. and his administration made the decision to bring law enforcement onto the campus to restore order, according to an email from Cal Poly Humboldt Marketing & Communications sent to the entire student body on the final day of protests.

“The operation’s objective was to establish control of the site; protect the rights, safety, and health of students and employees; eliminate the threat of violence and criminal behavior; and reestablish control of buildings and other property,” the email stated.

Mitchell’s priority is to optimize the way in which students and community members advocate on campus. 

“As far as starting to build the structure and format for the Community Engagement Team, we kind of had an ad hoc team that we were trying to develop, and we were behind the curve at one point in time, and then we saw a need and a gap … and we figured out how we could accommodate that and support students,” Mitchell said. “Students may not know their rights and their privileges.”

Mitchell explained that the TPM Policy shows students how to express themselves safely on campus.

“It gives a format or guideline,” Mitchell said. “ I don’t know if students are knowledgeable, aware of how to go about expressing and advocating and communicating how they feel broadly.”

Another notable aspect of the addendum is that it does not allow for amplified sound that disturbs regular campus activities. The previous University TPM Policy allowed amplified sound on the Upper Quad from 12 p.m. to 1 p.m., Monday through Friday. 

Rick Toledo, founder of the Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) — a registered student organization at Cal Poly Humboldt — expressed his concern about the changes. Toledo took issue with the removal of the amplified sound policy. 

“They’re saying there are really no approved times when you can have a rally or a protest with amplified sound,” Toledo said. “That’s a huge problem for us. They’re completely gutting the one thing we still had in the old policy that allowed us to do that.”

Toledo explained another problem that this poses to campus activism.

“It restricts us from being able to have an effective protest because the whole point of a protest or a rally is disruption — it’s to make a lot of noise on the campus to disrupt things that are happening and to get the word out to people,” Toledo said.

Toledo said that the SDS is trying to figure out the best way to go about activism without breaking policy.

“We have students who were arrested during the occupation and who were suspended, who are now in danger of having worse consequences if something else were to happen,” Toledo said. “So, we have to consider the safety of our activists, the safety of our faculty advisor, and their job.”

Backlash among the campus community about the policy change is likely.

“It seems like there is a greater movement forming that’s CSU-wide since this is a CSU-wide policy so that we can actually act against it, systemwide,” Toledo said. “It seems like the actual fight for that will be a little while in the making, and it’ll probably end up being something that is happening across most of the campuses at once when there is eventually full-on pushback against that.”

As an established campus and community activist, Toledo is passionate about freedom of speech and the right to assemble and is worried that the new TPM Policies will impede that.

“At this point, what they’re doing is preventing us from having our voices heard, from gathering, from truly gathering and having, like a rally together, from having these protests together,” Toledo said. “There’s nothing unlawful about a protest or a rally. It’s really just that they don’t like it. They don’t want it, so they’re shutting it down.”

By Andres Felix Romero

On July 11, 2024, a message was sent to the Cal Poly Humboldt community that the campus’ eighth president, Tom Jackson Jr., would be stepping down from his position in August 2024 for a faculty position. In his stead, the California State University Chancellor Mildred Garcia appointed Michael E. Spagna as the acting President of Cal Poly Humboldt as of Aug. 26, the first day of classes. In the CSU Board of Trustees’ September 22-23 meetings, they will decide whether Spagna will remain acting President while they search for a new president over a 12-month period.

Previous to becoming the Interim President for the Humboldt campus, Spagna performed the roles of provost and vice president of CSU Dominguez Hills. Spagna’s resume primarily consists of academic leadership roles. He began his career teaching middle and high school students with learning disabilities. He eventually earned his doctorate in special education from the UC Berkeley and SF State joint doctoral program. President Spagna also appears to be making efforts to involve himself with the Cal Poly Campus. Friday, Sept. 13 at the Redwood Bowl, Spagna and his team plan to host the annual College Colors Day. Spagna will start the event at noon with a few words, and attendees of the event can expect food, giveaways, and the second faculty kickball tournament.

By Mia Costales

It was an unusually warm Thursday in Arcata and the hum of cars speeding past the D Street Community parking lot were reminiscent of the buzzing of cicadas. Nestled in the shady spot beneath the eyes of the Josiah Lawson memorial mural, community members, students, and the occasional canine friend gathered in anticipation for today’s lesson. At noon, Rouhollah Aghasaleh opened the discussion with an anecdote about their perception of toxic positivity — a concept so normalized in the American learning system. Aghasaleh invited the group to question why a classroom learning about genocide should remain positive in light of such cruelty. They questioned why students should remain optimistic when there are chalkboards in Palestine covered in blood instead of chalk. 

“It’s okay to be mad, it’s okay to be angry, it’s okay to be depressed, it’s okay to be stressed, anxious,” Aghasaleh said. “All of those are valid emotions. We need to acknowledge them.” 

Aghasaleh first got their foot in the door in 2009, teaching in higher education professionally in Iran. However, their career can be traced further back to teaching in afterschool programs and summer camps in high school. In 2011, Aghasaleh immigrated to the U.S. to get their doctorate degree in educational theory and practice at the University of Georgia. They have been teaching at Cal Poly Humboldt as an assistant professor since 2020. Here, they have taught seven courses, including; multicultural special education, bilingual theory and methods, integrated math and science in elementary school and queer across cultures. However, due to their presence on campus last April during the Pro-Palestine protests, the university has placed them on a temporary suspension which prohibits them from being on campus and communicating with students. 

“We don’t have to seek happiness all the time,” Aghasaleh said. “‘Oh, let’s do something fun.’ Why? Let’s do something not fun. Let’s do something, you know, for reflection” 

This suspension is expected to last until Oct. 28, but a decision on if it should be prolonged is still up in the air. It is also important to note that while Aghasaleh was on campus during the Siemens Hall occupation, their role was not to protest but instead to ensure the safety of the students that were protesting. Because of their suspension, Aghasaleh has been holding community teach-ins at noon on Mondays and Thursdays since Aug. 26. They are able to interact with students during these lessons as they are considered community members in this setting. 

Over the course of the lessons, Aghasaleh has assigned readings like Living a Feminist Life by Sarah Ahmed to inspire discourse on theory and its applications in the real world. Last Thursday’s topics of discussion included conversations about the implicit and explicit sexism, racism, homophobia and transphobia that dress codes perpetuate and what feminism means to us. They also touched on binary oppositions, pairs of related terms that are opposite in meaning, and the dichotomy between self and other. Aghasaleh encouraged attendees to share examples of binary opposition created by patriarchal, capitalist, and colonial structures, such as the dichotomy of man versus woman. When the group wasn’t discussing theory, they were in smaller groups sharing things that were on their mind or exchanging resources. 

“Education is a very conservative spot, is a very conservative structure,” Aghasaleh said. “That’s the nature of education. Governments have been using it to socialize, to keep the class and other hierarchies and privilege systems that they had. What I’ve been doing is to work within and against [the structure] and that’s so exhausting and that’s so tough. And you are all familiar on some level with that, working within and against.” 

These teach-ins have gained some traction in the Arcata community, partly in thanks to social media accounts like @humboldtforpalestine and @calpolyhumboldtmemes on Instagram, both of which have posted information on Aghasaleh and their teach-ins. Some professors have also encouraged their students to attend the teach-ins in solidarity with Palestine and Aghasaleh. Staffers for the Toyon Literary Magazine (ENG 460) attended last Thursday’s session with the goal of getting inspiration for their newest volume of the magazine. The theme for this upcoming volume of Toyon is Dispatches from the Global Intifada. 

“I really think it’s a powerful model for what a decolonized classroom could look like,” Chrys Furrer said, an editor for Toyon. “There isn’t a hierarchy between student and teacher. It’s really open and fluid, and it’s more conversational and less about having someone lecture or talk down to someone. There’s a lot of invitation for discussion and reflection.” 

According to posts circulating online, Aghasaleh’s teach-ins will continue until their suspension ends. Their end-goal for the teach-ins is to foster a safer and less harmful learning environment, as well as aid people in the critical analysis of lived experiences. They hope to teach with cultural and personal relevance to students and encourage people to think about the ways we can all lift a little bit of burden off of the shoulders of our peers. 

“Just because I have read a few thousand more pages and I have done twenty more years of teaching doesn’t make me right,” Aghasaleh said. “You could be right. And I listen to you and I’ve made corrections; I’ve made serious adjustments in my teaching. Many teachers, many schools want obedient students. I’m not one of those.” 

All quotes attributed to Aghasaleh were not spoken directly to Mia Costales or any student journalists. All quotes were transcribed from their lectures at the teach-ins. 

By Madison Montiel

Monday 4/22/24

4 p.m. 
Students enter Siemens hall - they previously organized a Pro-Palestinian sit-in with some original student protesters planning to hold a seder in the building, bringing games, books, and art supplies.

4:15 p.m. 
UPD asks students to leave the building
Siemens Hall operational hours: 7 a.m. - 10 p.m.

Protesters refuse to leave, UPD evacuates non-protesters out of the building

Protesters lock doors and access points into the building until only the quad entrance is open. Barricades are constructed in front of the doors inside the building using materials such as chairs, desks, and other items from within Siemens Hall.

5 p.m.
Police show up with riot gear, and many students gather with protesters both inside and outside the building. 

Some students can be seen moving to the front of the protest line and beginning to pray.

5:57 p.m. 
Humboldt Alert - Siemens Hall Closed, Classes Canceled Tonight

7:30 p.m. 
Riot cops arrive on scene with protesters both inside and outside Siemens Hall. The police officers attempt to remove protesters from the building which results in injuries to multiple protesters.

Protesters can be heard both inside and outside of the building chanting “Cops go home!”

Multiple students report riot cops threatening to use pepper balls and rubber bullets.

A Cal Poly Humboldt truck is backed towards the entrance to the building and tension continues between riot cops and protesters both inside and outside the building.

8:53 p.m.
Humboldt Alert - Campus Closed as Dangerous Situation Continues at Siemens Hall

The protesters had one demand for the first hours of the protest--for the police to leave.

10:50 p.m.
The police leave the site.

Student protesters continue adding materials, making barricades bigger and more complex in front of entrances inside and outside the building.

Tuesday 4/23/24

Protesters continue to occupy Siemens Hall.






Protesters release their demands stating that if the demands are met they will vacate campus, remove donations and belongings, and help clean and cover up art and graffiti.

Students, faculty, and community members drop off donations of food, water, cooking equipment, hygiene products, clothing, PPE, art supplies, and much more. This continues throughout the next few days of the protest.

Mutual Aid Kitchen (MAK) is created and set up on tables in front of the Siemens Hall main entrance.

Protesters created the MAK to be a central space where anyone could go to get free supplies and hot meals. Schedules were posted for cooking, serving, restroom cleaning, security watch, etc., and were based on a volunteer sign-up system to divide duties and share the workload of the space.

The Water Jug memes begin as video footage of a protester “bonking” a riot officer with a 5-gallon water jug during the initial struggle at the quad entrance of Siemens Hall, goes viral.


https://www.instagram.com/p/C6HnJfESWzg/?utm_source=ig_web_button_share_sheet&igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==

3 p.m. 
University Senate meeting held and protest discussed

Cal Poly Humboldt faculty criticize administration for policing pro-Palestine protest

5:33 p.m. 
Humboldt Alert - Campus Operations Update as Protests Continue

Wednesday 4/24/24

The Lumberjack covering the police response and initial occupation of Siemens Hall.

Student protestors barricade themselves inside Siemens Hall, demand end to war in Gaza

The Lumberjack posts an article written from within Siemens Hall.

Behind the Barricades: Inside Siemens Hall

The Lumberjack interviews a community member who was arrested on Monday the 22nd during the protest.

Community member arrested during Cal Poly Humboldt protest for Palestine

12-4 p.m. 
CFA Teach-in held on campus quad where faculty, students, and community members attended while multiple faculty members spoke and led short workshops.

2:12 p.m.
Humboldt Alert - Campus Closed Through Sunday

Thursday 4/25/24

8:55 a.m.
Humboldt Alert - Update on Remote Instruction and Work, and Campus Operations

4 p.m. 
Open forum between protesters and CPH Admin held in the Goodwin Forum in Nelson Hall.

Open dialogue was held between protesters and Provost Jenn Capps and Dean of Students Mitch Mitchell, with other admin present such as Jeff Crane.

Full livestream of the forum: https://www.instagram.com/reel/C6NGj1Yx08r/?utm_source=ig_web_button_share_sheet&igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==

5:36 p.m. 
Humboldt Alert - Administrative Pay Information Due to Campus Closure

Sense of the Faculty Resolution on A Vote of No Confidence In President Tom Jackson

The Lumberjack article: “President Tom Jackson should resign, say Cal Poly faculty and CFA”

President Tom Jackson should resign, say Cal Poly faculty and CFA

Friday 4/26/24

The Lumberjack posts an article: “Dozens of protesters decide to stay on Cal Poly Humboldt campus, occupation continues”

Dozens of protestors decide to stay on Cal Poly Humboldt campus, occupation continues

10:28 a.m. 
Humboldt Alert - University Response to Protestor Demands

12:28 p.m. 
Humboldt Alert - Campus Closed Through the End of the Semester, Remote Instruction and Work Continue

Various meetings held throughout the day including open public forums by protesters and faculty, admin were present during at least one.

Many meetings were held between various groups of people inside Nelson Hall as well as in other spaces to discuss the group's demands, tactics, and ways to move forward.

Livestream of public forum: https://www.instagram.com/reel/C6PXXK0SmN0/?utm_source=ig_web_button_share_sheet&igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==

1:49 p.m. 
Humboldt Alert - Check-out Option for Protestors 

This action was called “self-narcing,” or turning oneself in, by protesters.

The Lumberjack article on self-checkout:

Cal Poly Humboldt offers ‘Check-out Option for Protestors’ and ‘Chance to Leave Buildings with No Immediate Arrest’

2:06 p.m.
Humboldt Alert - Campus Offers Chance to Leave Buildings with No Immediate Arrest

4:39 p.m.
Humboldt Alert - Check-out option update

The deadline for the check-out option is extended until 5 p.m.

5:20 p.m. 
Protesters open Siemens Hall Quad entrance to the public for a walkthrough of the building

For the first time since Monday 4/22 when the occupation of the building began, it was opened up and anyone was allowed to walk inside (mainly the top floor) and witness and document the state of the building as well as President Jackson’s Office.

Walkthrough of Siemens Hall: https://www.instagram.com/reel/C6PtKQsRnHG/?utm_source=ig_web_button_share_sheet&igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==

Two Arcata City Council members write in support of a solution

The Dean of Students office provides an outline to students on the quad that will be sent out to those involved with the protest, outlining the risk of being put on interim suspension.

University Senate Sense of the Senate Resolution On A Call for a Permanent Ceasefire in Gaza

6:20 p.m.
Rabbi Bob Rottenberg and a group of students and community members enter the protest zone and set up on the quad to welcome Shabbat, receiving Hamotzi, sharing grape juice and Matzah, and singing.

Saturday 4/27/24

12:35 p.m.
Cal Poly Humboldt Alert - Enforced Hard Closure of Campus

Bail fund set up for Cal Poly Humboldt Students by the Bay Area Anti-repression Committee: https://antirepressionbayarea.com

An open letter was sent out by Arcata City Council members Stacy Atkins-Salazar & Sarah Schaefer.

“As City Council members, and more importantly as humans, we support peaceful resolutions and open dialogue. It is essential to respect the rights of our community members, including and especially students, to peacefully express their views. We believe in the power of de-escalation and constructive conversation to promote understanding globally and foster solutions locally. We send our young people to universities such as Cal Poly Humboldt to foster critical thinking and encourage them to make the changes in the world that they deem necessary. This is what they are doing.  In this emotionally charged situation, a non-violent approach should, and must be used by all parties involved. As a council we heard from and worked with community members, including students, to have an open dialogue and create a cease-fire resolution for Arcata. This type of dialogue and conversation can bring our community together without violence.”

1:45 p.m.
Cal Poly Humboldt Places cement blockades at three main campus entry points, in front of Plaza Ave off LK Wood (Library Circle), in front of the entrance to the faculty and visitor parking lot behind the library, and a police vehicle and an electronic sign that read “Campus Closure Will Be Enforced,” blocking B st. heading north at the Harpst St. intersection.

6:03 p.m.
Humboldt Alert - A message to Students from Cal Poly Humboldt

6:30 p.m. 
Group March/Protest from Plaza to Campus in support of on-campus protesters

A group of people including faculty, students, and community members, marched from the plaza to the police-created barricade on LK Wood below Library Circle.

9:30 p.m. 
Unknown Metal band gives Protest crowd on LK Wood a free concert.

An Unknown Metal band pulled up in a UHaul on the opposite side of LK Wood as the police enforced cement barricade and gave protesters a free concert for about 40 minutes.
https://www.instagram.com/reel/C6SpC1rL5h5/?utm_source=ig_web_button_share_sheet&igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==

Sunday 4/28/24

7:35 p.m. 
Humboldt Alert - Campus Access, Resources, and Support

Monday 4/29/24

2:15 p.m. 
The CFA organized a march from the Arcata Plaza to the cement barricades at library circle, then marched back to the lawn in front of the Cal Poly Humboldt sign on the corner of LK Wood and 14th St. where they held signs, had a band playing instruments and singing, blew bubbles, and chanted.
https://www.instagram.com/reel/C6XL_WBP4CR/?utm_source=ig_web_button_share_sheet&igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==

4:18 p.m. 
Humboldt Alert - Reminder of Authorized Access During Hard Closure

Tensions in the protest Zone are high as mixed information from different sources claims that large numbers of police are being hosted at the Blue Lake casino, and multiple cop cars are seen driving on the 299 West and the 101 North, towards Arcata.

7 p.m.
A group of at least 50 people marched from Arcata Plaza to the cement barricades on LK Wood at Library Circle where the group protested and held a Seder. The group grew to approximately 200 people who chanted, sang, and said prayers. The size of the group got smaller throughout the night but there were still people at the cement protest line until approximately 4 am.
https://www.instagram.com/reel/C6Xqu3VLiqK/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==

10 p.m.
Two UPD officers drive a UPD vehicle up to one of the protest zone barricades and play a recorded message from Chief of University Police Peter Cress through a speaker strapped to the top of the vehicle. The message states that protesters have 15 minutes to leave the ‘unlawful assembly’ or be at risk of the use of plastic/rubber bullets and chemical agents.

Video recording of message: https://www.instagram.com/reel/C6YGeHzueNm/?utm_source=ig_web_button_share_sheet&igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==

The UPD officers drive around to each barricade/point of entry to play the message for the next 5 hours.

At least 200 protesters were present at this point.

Tuesday 4/30/24

2:50 a.m. 
Multiple buses full of Riot Police from as far as San Francisco and Redding march up to the Protest zone and begin breaking down barricades and encircling protesters.

The Lumberjack article: “Hundreds of riot police descend on Cal Poly Humboldt”

Hundreds of riot police descend on Cal Poly Humboldt

3:00 a.m. 
Humboldt Alert - Shelter in Place on Campus; Continuing Criminal Activity on Campus

6:56 a.m. 
Humboldt Alert - Law Enforcement Secures Buildings and Restores Order at Cal Poly Humboldt

Professor Rouhollah Aghasaleh’s statement

Professor arrested amid Cal Poly Humboldt protests shares story

2:55 p.m.
Humboldt Alert - Hard Closure Continues—Update on Campus Access, Resources, and Support

3:18 p.m. 
Humboldt Alert - Emergency Pay for CSUEU and Teamsters and Extension of Administrative Pay

7:52 p.m. 
Humboldt Alert - Campus Update on Commencement and Dining Access

10 a.m. - 7 p.m. 
Vigil and protest outside Humboldt courthouse waiting/asking for the release of those arrested.

Food Not Bombs served food.

Wednesday 5/1/24

A majority of those arrested are released on bail.

2:03 p.m. 
President Jackson sent an email out to students “A Message to the Campus Community”

2:37 p.m.
Cal Poly Humboldt Notification - Update on Cal Poly Humboldt Commencement Ceremonies

The Lumberjack publishes an article that encompasses events and interviews during the protest from April 26 to April 30 when riot police entered campus.

University brings busloads of police in riot gear to end pro-Palestine protest

Friday 5/3/24

12:53 p.m.
Cal Poly Humboldt Notification - Updated Schedule for Cal Poly Humboldt Commencement Ceremonies

5:59 p.m. 
Cal Poly Humboldt Notification - Updates for Campus Hard Closure during Finals Week

Tuesday 5/7/24

2:31 p.m. 
Cal Poly Humboldt Notification - Key Points for the Campus Community About the Events of April 22

The Lumberjack article: "320 faculty and staff demand ‘immediate termination’ of President Tom Jackson & chief of staff Mark Johnson"

320 faculty and staff demand ‘immediate termination’ of President Tom Jackson & chief of staff Mark Johnson

Wednesday 5/8/24

3:57 p.m. 
Cal Poly Humboldt Notification - Emergency Pay for CSUEU and Teamsters and Extension of Administrative Pay

Thursday 5/9/24

2:22 p.m. 
Cal Poly Humboldt Notification - Spring 2024 Commencement Graduate and Guest Information

Friday 5/10/24

4:07 p.m. 
Cal Poly Humboldt Notification - Information Regarding Campus Soft Opening and Transition Timeline to Normal Operations

Saturday 5/11/24

Commencement is split into 17 ceremonies and held at 3 different off-campus locations; Sapphire Palace at Blue Lake Casino, the Eureka Theater, and the Eureka High School Auditorium.

The Lumberjack article on commencement: "Off-campus graduation and a quarter million dollar fleet of security guards – Cal Poly Humboldt flexes its muscles"

Off-campus graduation and a quarter million dollar fleet of security guards – Cal Poly Humboldt flexes its muscles 

A PSA to New Cal Poly Humboldt Students

By Emma Wilson

Walking down the fire trail from the cypress campus dorms, across the bridge, and going down to jolly giant creek around the redwood log, I noticed A LOT of cigarette buds, joint filters and papers. As students, there is a duty and importance of preserving our Arcata Community Forest behind our campus. It is important to keep it clean, triple check your surroundings, and pick up after yourself – especially those nasty cigarette butts and joint roaches. 

Amelia Hillburn, a wildlife conservation and management major, emphasizes the importance of maintaining the Arcata community forest for the enjoyment of students and the community. She notes that the forest often becomes messy on weekends when maintenance workers are less active, with issues like littering and improper disposal of waste. 

Hilburn suggested that people should adopt what has been called the pack it in, pack it out principle – where people bring their own trash bags to keep the forest clean. She stressed that the forest is a shared space for everyone, not just students, and encourages responsible use to preserve its environmental and wildlife value. 

“Our campus is a community for everybody, not just students,” Hillburn said. “For everybody, like the families that walk through here. Just bring a doob tube.” 

Jonathan David Juarez, a data science major and the co-director from the Waste Reduction Resource Awareness Program (WRRAP), and Reusable Office Supply Exchange (ROSE) at Cal Poly Humboldt, discussed the importance of environmental stewardship, particularly in the community forest. 

Jaurez noted the importance of composting and proper disposal of cigarette butts. 

“For future students and new, I would recommend treating [the community forest] as if it’s one of the greatest gifts that you were ever given,”Jaurez said. “Because that is what it is, it’s a gem. It’s here for you, to be there for it.”

Jaurez expressed disappointment and frustration over the graffiti in the community forest, emphasizing the importance of respecting the environment.

He shares his cultural shock coming from LA, where parks and forests are not as clean and well-maintained.

“I stand guilty as charged when coming from LA,” Jaurez said. “We don’t have parks and forests like this; not this beautiful, not this clean. So, it’s not an excuse for people to be like, ‘Oh well, I don’t know any better.’ Then learn to be better.”

Interdisciplinary studies major Ro Meisler discussed the importance of environmental stewardship, emphasizing the need to respect and preserve the natural ecosystem. 

Meisler mentioned the prevalence of plastic waste and non-biodegradable items in the community, advocating for responsible behavior to protect the environment and its inhabitants. 

“There’s lots of living things that deserve clean water, clean air, clean land, healthy soil, free of plastic, and you know we gotta play our part to not disrupt their little lives,” Meisler said. “Leave it better than you found it. Be aware of yourself and your impact.”

Marcella Casteta, a cellular and molecular biology major, emphasizes the importance of maintaining the community forest by picking up trash to leave it better than found. She advised students to clean up even if the trash isn’t theirs, to preserve the community forest for everyone’s enjoyment. 

“If I see it, it’s nasty [to pick up], but you have to,” Casteta said. “You know, leave nothing but footprints, take nothing but pictures. It’s a space that we can all enjoy if we take care of it, and it’ll take care of you back. So, pick up trash – even if it’s not yours.”

By Brad Butterfield

After a university-wide election this April, Ethan LeVering was elected Associated Students president of Cal Poly Humboldt, receiving 196 votes, with the runner-up receiving only ten votes. On July 1, the student-run board of directors of Associated Students, consisting of seven voting members, voted to impeach LeVering. The board of directors accused him of neglecting duties, misusing power, and causing tension within the board. The impeachment was voted on only a few meetings into LeVering’s presidency and before the fall semester had even begun. The impeachment led to the appointment of Wysdem Singleton, an accounting major, to the presidency. Singleton was initially elected as Administrative Vice President, receiving ten votes. 

Communication Breakdown

Among the reasons cited for LeVering’s removal, poor communication appears to be the most prevailing and heavily cited factor. Various examples of communication difficulties between LeVering and the rest of the board of directors dominated the articles of impeachment. 

The articles of impeachment were co-authored by five members, including Singleton. 

  The articles called LeVering’s communication style aggressive while also citing a lack of proper communications with all involved parties. Additionally, they described LeVering as defensive and was unwilling to listen to criticism.

The authors of the document did not mince words in their characterization of Levering, He is also described as unreliable, disrespectful and “not ready to handle such an important position.” Perhaps most severely, LeVering is accused of not valuing input from other board members as well as having a tendency to interrupt. LeVering acknowledged a need to improve his listening skills and emphasized that the interruptions were not intentional.

“Sometimes I need to keep myself a little bit more reserved,” LeVering said.

LeVering’s first meeting as president, held on May 10, set the tone for his short presidency. According to the articles of impeachment, the meeting was dominated by LeVering discussing his own agenda and amendments.

“Ethan made constant interruptions and changes to previous amendments, elongating and complicating the meeting,” reads the articles of impeachment.

Leverings attempts to amend the agenda, coupled with his tendency to dominate the conversation both frustrated and confused the inexperienced board of directors.

“Most of the board – this was their first time in this position. Ethan had seemed to go through some of the A.S. processes before, so he knew a little bit more than we did,” Singleton said.

The board of directors’ frustrations were born — at least in part — by their own lack of experience, which is cited several times in the articles of impeachment.

Levering’s communication difficulties extended up the chain of command to the Dean of Students, Mitch Mitchell. According to the articles, during a meeting on June 20, LeVering addressed Mitchell without using his title and didn’t correct this mistake until prompted. Mitchell escalated the situation by calling LeVering an unfit representative of the university. Levering responded in kind.

“I decided, once he [Mitch Mitchell] was done speaking, to remind the board that he had been voted in ‘no confidence’ by the previous board, and that the words he was saying against me should be taken with a grain of salt,” LeVering said. “I meant no disrespect by not saying doctor in front of his name. However, he, at many points, referred to me simply as Ethan, and did not refer to me as president. I don’t know why we’re getting all stuck up about titles.”

The resulting atmosphere created by LeVering’s leadership style was not an environment that the rest of the board wanted to be a part of. Citing the stress created by LeVerings leadership, members considered resigning.

“I mean, honestly, it was either Ethan would be impeached, or we would lose half of our board just because we were not working well together,” Singleton said. “We couldn’t seem to come to a compromise.”

As eroding as the personality conflicts were, the miscommunications were perhaps most damaging. Atop the tall tower of miscommunications appears to have been confusion whether he even wanted to be president at all. In fact, on May 31, LeVering sent a letter of resignation to Kendra Higgins, Executive Director of Associated Students, and Chelsea Belden, Board Coordinator for Associated Students. LeVering later rescinded this letter, saying that it stemmed from a period of misunderstanding.

The rescinded letter read in part, “It appears unlikely that the global human condition will be significantly improved through means of political simulacra before an inevitable world-changing catastrophe.”

LeVering’s mention of political simulacra is cited in the articles of impeachment and led the board of directors to believe that LeVering would not be able to work within the bureaucratic pathways necessary in the Associated Students.

According to Singleton, it was difficult to work with LeVering, in part because of his own indecisiveness surrounding his presidency.

  “He seemed like he was ready to resign and go to CCAT,” Singleton said.

As it would turn out, Levering was not eligible for the role he wanted at CCAT.

“Once I found out I was no longer eligible to be the CCAT co-director, it was my full intention to continue on with being the president and do my best job,” LeVering said. “Fulfilling and serving the student body’s interest to the best of my ability.”

Conflict at the PANETTA Conference

Another issue raised in the articles of impeachment relays occurrences at a conference in Monterey called PANETTA, which took place in June. The conference was organized and paid for by the university and LeVering would have received credits upon completion, which he did not.

According to LeVering, lack of sleep and a feeling of culture shock because of the opulent golf course near the conference led him to step away from the group without informing anyone beforehand.

“I started looking around at a golf course and feeling really bad at all the environmental degradation that was clearly happening around me,” LeVering said. “So, I stepped off for about thirty minutes to feel bad about the environment by myself.”

After his return to the group, LeVering was asked why he appeared upset. 

“I told them that this place was causing a ton of environmental degradation, and that it was wrong for them to send the president of Cal Poly Humboldt to this place and think of it as a good time,” LeVering said.

Later, LeVering received a call from Higgins who told him that he was being recalled by the president’s office for the breaking of decorum. He was ordered to get back on a plane the following morning. 

“I hadn’t really been given a clear answer to why I was being recalled at that point,” LeVering said.

According to LeVering, he awoke the morning of his new return flight incredibly stressed and even vomited. He missed his return flight and then took an Uber in an aim to make the connecting flight.

As a result, LeVering’s actions and inactions caused the Associated Students to spend money on unused travel items.

In addition to the wasted money, the articles of impeachment make note of LeVering’s alleged failure to take accountability for failing to complete the PANETTA conference.

“Ethan has yet to take full accountability for his actions at PANETTA and continues to place full blame on administration for why he was unable to continue,” the articles read.

Sam Parker – former A.S. president – questioned whether the drama at PANETTA should have been included in the articles of impeachment in the first place.

“I don’t really think that part should have been included,” Parker said. “I don’t think they should have sent him home for what he did. You know, we’re allowed to have emotions.”

Still, Parker emphasized the importance of communication, particularly in a position of leadership. According to Parker, he witnessed many instances of bad communication from LeVering, which highlighted a missing component in the LeVering leadership.

“That’s really the role of the president, if more than anything,” Parker said. “To build bridges between everyone and synthesize everyone’s ideas together, figure out how to all advance them together, and not just kind of go renegade.”

An Illegal Meeting?

According to LeVering, late at night before a special meeting was held, he was reading through the Gloria Romero act to prepare for the special meeting.

 “I was very unfamiliar with parliamentary code,” LeVering said.

This late night reading through the Gloria Romero Act led LeVering to believe that since local newspapers had not been notified of the special meeting, the meeting was being held illegally. LeVering took it upon himself to contact The Lumberjack and El Leñador to notify them of the meeting.

“When we went into that meeting, we asked if they had reached out to the newspapers in order to make the meeting legitimate,” Levering said. “Apparently they had not, which I think made that meeting illegal.”

Levering’s concerns over press access to the special meeting and shaky knowledge of the Gloria Romero Act were cited in the article of impeachment.

“President Ethan LeVering attended the Association’s meeting with knowledge that it was being illegally held,” the articles of impeachment read.

Our Elected President, Impeached

Among the many issues raised by the Board of Directors, LeVering’s character, advocacy for his fellow student and motivation to affect change were never called into question. 

At a special meeting held on June 13, at least five students spoke in support of LeVering. Among the voices of support was a letter written by Mary Mangubat, where she praised LeVering’s consistent participation in many programs across campus, including A.S., WRRAP, and the University Senate.

“Ethan has shown genuine interest and care to provide necessary resources for students and our campus community,” read Mangubat’s letter.

In any case, LeVering ran on a platform of shaking shit up. This evidently resonated with the campus community as LeVering completely dominated the vote. 

“I will make no political promises to the outcomes that I can achieve. Doing so would amount to little more than a lie. If voting changed anything, they’d call it an act of violence,” LeVering’s campaign statement read.

President Singleton

Singleton, for her part, hopes to be the bridge builder that Levering wasn’t during his brief time in power. As a part of her goals as president, Singleton aims to strengthen the board of directors and increase student involvement in A.S. 

“I really want people to get involved,” Singleton said. “There’s so much more that we can do besides just making noise, and there’s so many ways we can do it, and they will have to listen to us, because we pay to go here, right?”

The Lumberjack contacted all five co-authors of the articles of impeachment, but were only granted an interview with Singleton.

Brad Butterfield is employed by the Bicycle Learning Center, an organization under the WRRAP umbrella.

By Savana Robinson

Just after nine p.m. on April 29, a Cal Poly Humboldt Police SUV pulled up to a barricade made of chain-link fence, dumpsters, metal chairs, and tables. Protesters and journalists looked on as tension rose. With its red and blue lights flashing, it parked between the Music B building and the stairs to Founders Hall.

“I am Peter Cress, the Chief of Police for the Cal Poly Humboldt Police Department. I hereby declare this to be an unlawful assembly,” a loud, crackly recording of the voice of Cress emitted from the vehicle’s PA system. “Break up this assembly and leave the area. If you do not do so, you may be arrested. You may also be subject to other police action including the use of … rubber bullets, plastic bullets and tear gas.”

After five hours of this recording playing in various locations around the epicenter of the pro-Palestine protest, more than 100 Unified Command officers forcibly broke up the protest. 32 protesters were arrested in the early hours of April 30. 20 days later, Greg Allen began his tenure as the new police chief of Cal Poly Humboldt’s University Police Department, with the administrative title of Associate Vice President for Safety & Community Wellbeing. 

Why was there a change of chiefs?

According to Cal Poly Humboldt News & Information, Allen’s onboarding was a result of a several-months-long process that began at the start of the year. Allen clarified that his introduction to the department was not influenced by the protest, and the timing was due to  the lengthy hiring process. The university had also been looking for a permanent chief for two years since the departure of Anthony Morgan in 2022, with Cress acting as interim chief during the protest. Cress and previous Interim Chief Fernando Solorzano had been taking turns every six months. Cress was interim chief from Jan. 2022 to June of that year, then Solorzano took control for the remainder of the calendar year. They continued this process until Allen assumed the position in May.

Allen’s background

Allen is an alumnus of Humboldt State University, having graduated in 1994 from the social work program with a minor in ethnic studies. The late renowned R.W. Hicks was a mentor to Allen and was a large part of why he came to the university, played sports, and became the President of the Black Student Union on campus.

Police activity at the protest

Allen was one of the responding officers on the evening of April 22, the night that the pro-Palestine protest began. Protesters barricaded themselves inside Siemens Hall that evening and dozens of police officers from various local agencies responded to the incident. After hours of the protesters and police clashing verbally and physically, the officers retreated at almost 11 p.m.. The protest continued for seven more days.

“What I saw was [that] most of the people out there protesting were doing it legally and lawfully,” Allen said. “When you have big protests like that, you have a very few that come and decide to cross that line to where now you make it illegal. There has to be some type of response, because now we’re talking about safety, accessibility for everybody on campus.”

Allen said that it would be difficult at this point to determine what he would have done differently if he were chief of police during the protest. He also expressed how he felt about how the protest was forcibly broken up.

“It’s unfortunate it got to that point,” Allen said. “It is hard to prevent illegal activity. If somebody wants to do something then that’s their choice. Then, there’s got to be consequences to that. We want to work with people. When we have a protest, we want to be able to protect that First Amendment right. We also want to be able to make it accessible to everybody because there’s always two sides to the story. We want to [create] a safe environment for everybody to do that peacefully. I think that I still have to look to figure out what was actually done and why it was done. So, all that stuff is being reviewed as we speak.”

What will change?

Stepping into the role of university police chief after a historical protest and occupation of campus buildings for over a week is a daunting task. However, Allen has a plan.

“I think right now is a time for, basically, assessment and evaluation of all our processes and all our programs that we’re doing to see if we do need to improve on [them] to see if they’re efficient, if we’re doing them the most effective way that we can do them,” Allen said. “See if there could be an innovative way to do things differently and all that’s in play right now.”

Allen plans to build trust with the campus community by focusing on communication and community engagement.“Community engagement will always be a priority, and that’s a priority in all law enforcement,” Allen said. “Engaging with your own community to understand their wants and needs, as well as to explain some of the things that you do and why you do those things. Communication; whether that’s written or oral, we have to communicate effectively. Even if …  we don’t agree on things, we have to have those kind of difficult conversations to basically understand each other.”

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.”