Two University of California San Diego professors have been told the campus is moving ahead with formal disciplinary proceedings tied to a pro‑Palestinian encampment that was cleared from Library Walk in May 2024. According to notice letters sent this month, the university alleges their participation disrupted campus operations, with potential penalties that include unpaid suspensions.
The letters name B.T. Werner, a Scripps Institution of Oceanography professor who also teaches in the critical gender studies program, along with a second faculty member. Werner faces a proposed penalty that could include a suspension of up to two years without pay, while the other professor is looking at a possible one‑quarter suspension without pay, according to a university notice cited by The San Diego Union‑Tribune.
What Happened At Geisel Library
The Gaza Solidarity encampment on Library Walk near Geisel Library expanded over several days before UCSD administrators and allied law enforcement moved in to clear the site on May 6, 2024. The early‑morning sweep temporarily shut down parts of campus, pushed some instruction online, and brought a heavy police presence along with multiple detentions. Local coverage documented the takedown and the immediate shockwaves to campus life, including confrontations between supporters and counter‑protesters, as reported by Hoodline.
After a months‑long review, prosecutors declined to file criminal charges, according to CAIR California. The university instead handled many cases through its internal disciplinary system. Some arrested participants were placed on interim suspension while student conduct reviews played out, a pattern that continued across the spring and summer of 2024 as campuses processed protest‑related incidents, CalMatters reported.
Faculty Reaction And University Statement
Werner has described the disciplinary push as "politically motivated" and argues that the university is mischaracterizing his role at the encampment. Campus attorneys and some faculty advocates have also criticized what they say is broad, uneven enforcement of protest rules.
A UC San Diego spokesperson said the campus supports the right to peaceful protest but emphasized that community members remain subject to the law and to the faculty code of conduct. Those comments, along with Werner’s rebuttal, were included in reporting by The San Diego Union‑Tribune.
Legal Implications
Faculty discipline at UC campuses is governed by the Academic Personnel Manual, which provides a spectrum of penalties ranging from censure and required remediation to suspension or dismissal. The rules also set deadlines for when cases can be initiated.
Systemwide rules and Academic Senate bylaws generally require that notice of proposed disciplinary action be delivered within about three years of when campus leaders are deemed to have learned of an alleged violation, according to University of California Academic Senate materials on APM‑015 and APM‑016, available on the UC Academic Senate website. That internal clock does not align with criminal statutes of limitations and helps explain why administrators can continue pursuing administrative cases even when prosecutors walk away.
Why This Matters
The UCSD notices are landing in the middle of a wider debate across the University of California system over how campuses responded to pro‑Palestinian demonstrations last spring. Faculty groups have accused UC leaders of using discipline and law enforcement in ways that chilled speech and organizing. Statewide coverage has detailed union complaints, unfair labor practice filings and broader fights over how to juggle safety, academic continuity and free expression, according to the Los Angeles Times.
Disciplinary hearings at UCSD are expected in the weeks ahead, with officials saying the professors will have an opportunity to respond to the allegations through established procedures. For people on campus, those hearings are the latest flare‑up in an ongoing fight over protest, policing and where to draw the line on faculty and student conduct.
