Students to Protest Militarism and Lack of Democracy at May 18th Regents Meeting

Students to Protest Militarism and Lack of Democracy at May 18th Regents Meeting
UC Regents Seek to Continue Proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction

SAN FRANCISCO, CA – UC Santa Cruz Students Against War, in concert with student peace organizations from other UC campuses, will be attending the meeting of the UC Regents at UCSF, Laurel Heights Campus, on Thursday, May 18th, 2006. The purpose of the convergence is to voice opposition to the UC’s complicity in war and militarism through its management of the Los Alamos and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratories. The students will use the public comment period, beginning at 09:45, to voice their call for the demilitarization and democratization of the University of California as well as address the hypocrisy of current threats against Iran for its alleged nuclear program. Later, around 12:15, SAW will engage in a “weapons inspection” of the premises to highlight the UC’s hand in violating of the Non- proliferation Treaty through its ties to the labs. The protest will be non-violent in nature, incorporating humor into a serious demand for a peaceful and democratic university system.

The protest continues decades of student and faculty opposition to the militarization of the University of California and its ties to the Labs: by 1982, the student government of every UC campus had passed a resolution opposing UC management of the labs; in 1983, the UCSC Academic Senate overwhelmingly voted to cut ties; in 1990, a survey of UC faculty showed that 65% supported an end to UC’s involvement with Labs; and most recently, on April 26th 2006, the UC Berkeley student government voted unanimously to end this marriage of education and violence. The Regents’ recent bids to continue managing the labs demonstrate the total lack of representation of the voices of students and faculty. Students Against War stands alongside these voices and demands their recognition by the Regents.

Recent reports in the US media reveal that the Bush Administration is seriously considering a nuclear first strike against Iran. If such an attack should happen, the UC’s ties to nuclear arms production would make it complicit in an irresponsible, illegal and murderous act. Students Against War opposes a strike on Iran as well as military aggression in all its forms and demands a university system dedicated to peace.

Thursday’s action will mark Students Against War’s return to the Regents’ meeting following its vocal presence there on May 25, 2005 and will be the group’s first major action since its third successful expulsion of military recruiters from UCSC on April 11th, 2006.