By Donald H. Harrison
SAN DIEGO — A political science professor at UC Berkeley is drawing worldwide attention for his vow to remain in his campus office, teaching via Zoom, “until we take necessary steps to prevent violence between students.”
“I will teach, eat, and sleep in my office,” Ron Hassner vowed Thursday, March 7, in social media posts. “My office will be open at all hours of the day and night, on weekdays, and weekends, to all students who do not feel safe or who have been subjected to antisemitic abuse, or who wish to chat. I will also leave a light on in my office window at all times so that all students walking by on Bancroft Ave. can see that at least one faculty members is sleeping as badly at night as they are.”
Hassner is the Chancellor’s Chair in Political Science and the Helen Diller Family Chair in Israel Studies. He contrasted his protest with those of anti-Israel demonstrators. “My protest is non-confrontational, non-violent, and legal,” he declared.
Sunday, March 10, was the fourth day of his sit-in and to his surprise, he told me by email, “My office is full of people from 8 a.m. to midnight every day. Students are coming by the dozens to talk, support one another, and eat. Faculty, parents, alumni, and strangers who have heard about me come to visit and they all bring food. People I’ve never met from across the U.S. are sending me pizza, books to read, food coupons. My office has become a home away from home for the students and the atmosphere is warm and cheerful. I really don’t mind sleeping here, though I do miss my family.”
Word of his protest has gone international, Hassner said. “Hundreds of mailers, from Australia to Brazil, have asked whether they should send me food. I have too much food! Everyone who comes brings food. What would really help is if people supported organizations on campus that support students. Those include the Helen Diller Institute for Israel Studies that I co-direct, the Berkeley Center for Jewish Studies, the Berkeley Chabad, and the Berkeley Hillel. That would make a huge difference to students, who are the reason I’m doing all this.”
Hassner said his decision to stage his protest was “the violence at Zellerbach Hall two weeks ago, the failure of the administration to remove the illegal barriers that protesters had placed at Sather Gate [a main entrance to the Berkeley campus] and my concern that a Jewish march, timed for Monday morning, would result in conflict between students.”
He said that about a dozen other faculty members across four departments have instituted their own Zoom protests and have joined in asking, not demanding, of Chancellor Carol Christ and Provost Ben Hermalin that “the university clear the illegal siege of Sather Gate, that campus apologize to speakers who are prevented from speaking and invite them back to campus, and that all supervisors on campus receive mandatory antisemitism and Islamophobia training.”
In our email exchange, I asked the professor how he maintains hygiene and stays safe.
“There is a bathroom one floor away that I use in the morning and evening,” he responded. “I have no way to shower but try to keep clean and change clothes as often as I can. I am very safe. Violence is very rare on our campus. When it does, perpetrators are investigated immediately. I have no concern at all.”
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Donald H. Harrison is publisher and editor of San Diego Jewish World. He may be contacted via donald.harrison@sdjewishworld.com