A group of students staged a protest during Saturday’s football between UC Berkeley and the University of Southern California.
There was initially confusion about what the students were protesting, but it turns out they were supporting UC Berkeley Professor Ivonne Del Valle, who was suspended for apparently stalking another professor.
Rumors initially circulated on social media, suggesting that the students were protesting the conflict in the Middle East, according to Fox News Digital.
A total of 14 adults were transported to Alameda County Jail for booking, and there was one juvenile taken to UCPD for processing, per the report.
The students wore shirts that read, “Justice for Ivonne.”
After three investigations, the professor in question was found to have harassed and stalked Joshua Clover, a professor at UC Davis, over a period of four years. She had also apparently violated orders not to get in touch with him.
Del Valle was reportedly suspended for nine months in 2021.
Emily Chamale, a sophomore at UC Berkeley, said during a protest last month: “Professor del Valle isn’t just any faculty member, she’s the top expert in colonial studies.”
“The question that haunts me is: If someone as respected as her is going through such things at Berkeley, what might the future be for the rest of us?”
However, it does not appear del Valle has the sparkling past that students apparently believe her to have. KQED reported that over the course of three investigations, which looked at the professor’s behavior from 2018 and 2022, the authorities found that the professor had repeatedly harassed, retaliated, and stalked Clover, an English and Comparative Literature professor at UC Davis.
Students have defended del Valle’s actions, claiming that she acted out of desperation. They are apparently under the assumption that the professor was the victim of harassment and online stalking.
The students have previously stated that del Valle is a beloved professor at the university, and that she is the only first-generation Mexican female among the faculty in the Spanish and Portuguese Department.
However, this raises questions about whether these students believe del Valle should be given a pass for egregious behavior simply because she is a Mexican woman.
If del Valle is not reinstated by the university, the students reportedly plan to institute a hunger strike.
15, including minor, arrested for protest on Cal football fieldwww.youtube.com
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