UCI Faculty in Support of March 4th Events

Dear Colleagues:

March 4 has been declared a national and statewide day of action on education, with protests and marches on Sacramento--in which the UC Regents among others are participating--and local events at UC and CSU campuses to demonstrate the urgency of public commitment to education at every level (K-12, community college, state college, university). Many groups across the state are organizing travel to Sacramento; UCI community members are currently organizing on-campus special classes and speeches. We are writing to encourage you to participate and to allow your students to miss classes without penalty on March 4 so that they can participate.

The UC Berkeley faculty association has issued a statement that includes the following: “For those who have classes on March 4th, canceling or re-scheduling is not a decision taken lightly. However, given the statewide mobilization of teachers, professors and students, we believe that this one day could make a significant difference in the course of California education politics. For those of us who never miss a day of class, this one feels worth it." And the collected department chairs of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences at UCSB have written: “We encourage you to participate in whatever ways you can, such as: - Announcing the events in class; - Allowing students to participate in these activities without any penalty; - Teaching about the current crisis in public education."

We urge you to join our colleagues at these and other campuses in support of March 4.

Sincerely,

Dina al-Kassim, Associate Professor and Director of Graduate Studies, Comparative Literature
Elizabeth Allen, Associate Professor of English
Eyal Amiran, Associate Professor of Comparative Literature and Film & Media Studies
Etienne Balibar, Professor of French and Italian
Victoria Bernal, Associate Professor of Anthropology
Ellen S. Burt, Professor of French and Italian
Kitty Calavita, Professor of Criminology, Law & Society
Marie Cartier, Lecturer in Film and Media Studies
Charles Chubb, Professor of Cognitive Sciences
Elliott Currie, Profssor of Criminology, Law, and Society
Julia Bryan-Wilson, Associate Professor of Art History and Director, Ph.D. Program in Visual Studies
Ken Dumars, Professor Emeritus of Pediatrics, School of Medicine
Julia Elyachar, Assistant Professor of Anthropology
Cynthia Feliciano, Associate Professor of Chicano & Latino Studies and Sociology
Raul Fernandez, Professor of Chicano & Latino Studies
James Fujii, Associate Professor of East Asian Languages and Literatures
Alexander Gelley, Professor of Comparative Literature
Gilbert G. Gonzalez, Professor Emeritus of Chicano & Latino Studies
Elizabeth Guthrie, Senior Lecturer in French
Paul Jesilow, Professor of Criminology, Law & Society
Adriana Johnson, Associate Professor of Comparative Literature
Marek Kaminsky, Associate Professor of Political Science
Susan B. Klein, Associate Professor of East Asian Languages and Literatures
Brook Haley, Lecturer in Humanities Core
Laura Hyun Yi Kang, Associate Professor and Chair of Women’s Studies
Karen Kim, Lecturer in Women’s Studies
Catherine Liu, Associate Professor of Film & Media Studies and Director, Humanities Institute
Catherine Lord, Professor of Studio Art
Lilith Mahmud, Assistant Professor of Women’s Studies
Laura J. Mitchell, Associate Professor and Director of Graduate Studies, History
Cecelia Lynch, Professor of Political Science and Director, Center for Global Peace and Conflict Studies
Antoinette LaFarge, Associate Professor of Studio Art
Simon Leung, Associate Professor of Studio Art
Carrie J. Noland, Professor of French and Italian
Rachel O’Toole, Assistant Professor of History
Kristin Peterson, Assistant Professor of Anthropology
Kavita Philip, Associate Professor of Women’s Studies and Director, Critical Theory Institute
Shawn Rosenberg, Professor of Political Science and Director, Graduate Program in Political Psychology
Jeanne Scheper, Assistant Professor of Women's Studies
Annette Schlichter, Associate Professor of Comparative Literature
Martin Schwab, Professor of Philosophy
Luis Suarez-Villa, Professor of Planning, Policy, and Design
Rei Terada, Professor of Comparative Literature and Director, Critical Theory Emphasis
Jerome S. Tobis, Professor Emeritus of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation
Deborah Vargas, Assistant Professor of Chicano and Latino Studies
Jeffrey Wasserstrom, Professor of History
Frank Wilderson, Associate Professor of African-American Studies and Drama