Campus Posting

Dear campus community,

This fall, UCI and other campuses have been subjected to unauthorized poster distribution by external organizations unaffiliated with the University of California. The posters were removed because they violated posting policy on campus property.

The content of these unauthorized posters was troubling. They targeted students, faculty and administrators by name and/or caricature. The inflammatory assertions sought to discredit individuals, smear student organizations, and associate specific communities with illegal activities. This rhetoric was not confined to the physical campus. They also included external social media conversations where university policies do not extend. Regardless of where these incidents took place – on campus or on the web – they nonetheless contradicted the UC Regents Principles Against Intolerance.

I write to the campus today not only to categorically repudiate these past incidents, but also to acknowledge the continuing conversations emerging on campus and across the country about critical issues in free speech. As a campus that values inclusive excellence, there are many resources for each of us to use in building and sustaining a community where all expect equity, support diversity, and practice inclusion. Please visit the inclusive excellence website for more information:
https://inclusion.uci.edu/.

Expect Equity, Support Diversity and Practice Inclusion,

Douglas M. Haynes
Vice Provost for Academic Equity, Diversity and Inclusion
Office of Inclusive Excellence
https://inclusion.uci.edu
Director, ADVANCE Program
https://inclusion.uci.edu/advance/
Professor of History
Director, Medical Humanities Inter-School Excellence Initiative
http://medicalhumanities.uci.edu/