The posters and bulletin boards outside UCLA’s ethnic studies centers have been the target of over a dozen vandalism incidents since April.
Incidents have involved the removal or destruction of posters, flyers and office placards, said Jeffrey Chobanian, the acting captain of the UCPD administrative and operations bureau, in an emailed statement. The vandalized or removed flyers advertised campus or other university-approved events, he added in the statement.
The UCLA Institute of American Cultures oversees four ethnic studies centers – including the American Indian Studies Center, the Asian American Studies Center, the Ralph J. Bunche Center for African American Studies and the Chicano Studies Research Center. The centers, some of which have offices in Haines Hall and Campbell Hall, aim to raise awareness on social and cultural realities in America through research and civic engagement programs, according to the IAC’s website.
A “report all illegals to ICE” poster was reportedly seen in Haines Hall on one occasion, said Steve Lurie, the associate vice chancellor for campus and community safety. Photos were removed from boards and signs were taken down from doors in an April incident, while a June incident involved a corkboard being “forcibly torn” from a wall, according to a facilities management email sent to faculty.
Most incidents have taken place in Haines Hall, with additional reports of vandalism at Moore Hall, Campbell Hall, Kaplan Hall, Rolfe Hall and Marion Anderson Hall, Chobanian said in the statement.
While the suspect seems to be “intentionally targeting” specific flyers, Chobanian said, he added in the statement that there is an unknown number of suspects, and UCPD cannot speculate on their motivations. Early reports suggested the incidents occurred overnight on weekends, but recent cases have taken place at various times, he said.
“We’d like to know in as real time as possible when someone sees something like this – especially if they feel like it’s targeting ethnicity, race, cultural background, religion,” Lurie said. “That’s something we take deadly seriously.”
David Yoo, the vice provost of the IAC, declined to comment on the vandalism.
Rebecca BeDell, a rising third-year psychology student and Bunche Fellow, said the vandalism incidents have made her concerned about whether or not she is welcomed on campus. The Bunche Fellows Program – which is overseen by the Bunche Center – offers students opportunities to study the conditions of Black life in faculty-led research projects, according to its website.
“With this rise of vandalism towards these communities, I’m getting a little bit more of that fear again, where I’m like, ‘Am I going to be accepted? Am I safe to be here?’” she said.
BeDell, who said she hopes to pursue research on environmental racism, said she saw the vandalism incidents as an attempt to silence the ethnic studies centers’ work. She added that amid increased United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids across the country, the “report all illegals to ICE” poster concerned her.
BeDell said she found it “jarring” that she had not seen administrators talking about the vandalism incidents. She added that she hopes the university acknowledges the issue and does not tolerate hateful actions on campus.
“The stuff I want to research is so important and so vital, and I feel like it’s (the vandalism incidents) almost, in a way, silencing the research and the important things we’re trying to learn more about our communities and more about our people,” she said.
Lurie said there has been “great progress” in addressing the vandalism incidents. He added that he hopes to communicate more actively with students on the status of campus safety issues, as well as bolster UCLA’s nonpolice public safety functions, despite existing in what he called a “very challenging budget environment.”
It was difficult to identify a clear pattern in the incidents because most of the reports were filed days after they occurred, Chobanian said in the statement. The incidents are under an ongoing UCPD investigation, and UCLA police officers and public safety aides have increased patrols in impacted areas, he added in the statement.
Chobanian said in the statement that if people see suspicious behavior or vandalism in progress, they should report it to UCPD immediately.
“I’m not surprised – but very, very disappointed and scared for not just these research programs but the students that are participating in these research programs,” BeDell said. “How are you supposed to feel safe on a campus that doesn’t even report on stuff like this?”
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