Letter From 242 U. of California at Davis Professors Backs Chancellor

Two hundred and forty-two University of California at Davis faculty members have signed a letter supporting the university’s chancellor, Linda P.B. Katehi, in the face of calls for her resignation following the widely publicized November 18 pepper-spraying by campus police officers of about 20 seated student protesters on the university’s quad. The letter says its signers are “heartened by the chancellor’s apology and her commitment to listen to and work on the students’ concerns.” It continues: “We strongly believe that Linda Katehi is well qualified to lead our university through this difficult healing process.”

The signers represent a little over 10 percent of the university’s faculty members, with heavy representation by professors in the hard sciences and the law school.