Chancellor Linda Katehi November 22, 2011 UC Davis Dear Chancellor Katehi: With a heavy heart and substantial deliberation, we the undersigned faculty of the UC Davis physics department send you this letter expressing our lack of confidence in your leadership and calling for your prompt resignation in the wake of the outrageous, unnecessary, and brutal pepper spraying episode on campus Friday, Nov. 18. The reasons for this are as follows. • The demonstrations were nonviolent, and the student encampments posed no threat to the university community. The outcomes of sending in police in Oakland, Berkeley, New York City, Portland, and Seattle should have led you to exhaust all other options before resorting to police action. • Authorizing force after a single day of encampments constitutes a gross violation of the UC Davis principles of community, especially the commitment to civility: “We affirm the right of freedom of expression within our community and affirm our commitment to the highest standards of civility and decency towards all.” • Your response in the aftermath of these incidents has failed to restore trust in your leadership in the university community. We have appreciated your leadership during these difficult times on working to maintain and enhance excellence at UC Davis. However, this incident and the inadequacy of your response to it has already irreparably damaged the image of UC Davis and caused the faculty, students, parents, and alumni of UC Davis to lose confidence in your leadership. At this point we feel that the best thing that you can do for this university is to take full responsibility and resign immediately. Our campus community deserves a fresh start. Sincerely, Andreas Albrecht (chair) Marusa Bradac Steve Carlip Hsin-Chia Cheng Maxwell Chertok John Conway Daniel Cox James P. Crutchfield Glen Erickson Chris Fassnacht Daniel Ferenc Ching Fong Giulia Galli Nemanja Kaloper Joe Kiskis Lloyd Knox Dick Lander Lori Lubin Markus Luty Michael Mulhearn David Pellett Wendell Potter Sergey Savrasov Richard Scalettar Robert Svoboda John Terning Mani Tripathi David Webb David Wittman Dong Yu Gergely Zimanyi