Banana Slug as Political Prisoner
UC Santa Cruz just can’t catch a break. After scandals surrounding administration salaries and perks and the high-profile suicide of Chancellor Denise Denton, the university now has to contend with Alette Kendrick. Kendrick was arrested at a rally protesting the regents during a visit to the campus in October and charged with assault of an officer. Felony charges were later dropped and she plead no contest to two misdemeanors, but a three year university suspension still stood.
Conflicting reports of the October 18th protest abound. After surrounding the Humanities building in which the Regents were meeting, protesters scuffled with campus police, who used force and pepper spray to break the line of students. According to Professor Angela Davis, who spoke at the rally May 24th, it was the first recorded use of pepper spray on student protesters at Santa Cruz. Alette Kendrick was accused of biting an officer and resisting arrest. In her personal narrative of the incident, however, she states: “…in wondering aloud my confusion, [I] caught the officers’ attention. I heard their call at me and next I knew, I was on the ground being forcefully dragged by the arms through the crowd”.
Numerous campus organizations, including the ACLU Slugs, UCSC Democrats and Student Union Assembly, came to Kendrick’s defense, citing an obvious bias against the third-year student, who is African-American. They organized a week of action, culminating in a rally outside the Chancellor’s office May 24th. A week later the administration acquieced somewhat, reducing the three year suspension to two quarters, allowing Kendrick to come back to school next winter. Some other demands by the coalition have yet to be met.
Sources: Indybay.org, SF Chronicle, Santa Cruz Sentinel, UC Activist Defense Committee
Conflicting reports of the October 18th protest abound. After surrounding the Humanities building in which the Regents were meeting, protesters scuffled with campus police, who used force and pepper spray to break the line of students. According to Professor Angela Davis, who spoke at the rally May 24th, it was the first recorded use of pepper spray on student protesters at Santa Cruz. Alette Kendrick was accused of biting an officer and resisting arrest. In her personal narrative of the incident, however, she states: “…in wondering aloud my confusion, [I] caught the officers’ attention. I heard their call at me and next I knew, I was on the ground being forcefully dragged by the arms through the crowd”.
Numerous campus organizations, including the ACLU Slugs, UCSC Democrats and Student Union Assembly, came to Kendrick’s defense, citing an obvious bias against the third-year student, who is African-American. They organized a week of action, culminating in a rally outside the Chancellor’s office May 24th. A week later the administration acquieced somewhat, reducing the three year suspension to two quarters, allowing Kendrick to come back to school next winter. Some other demands by the coalition have yet to be met.
Sources: Indybay.org, SF Chronicle, Santa Cruz Sentinel, UC Activist Defense Committee