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The University of California system spent more than $29 million to manage pro-Palestinian protests on its campuses this spring, according to preliminary estimates obtained by the Los Angeles Times.
Ninety percent of that expenditure went toward law enforcement, private security and other safety measures, the newspaper reported.
Of the 10 campuses in the system, the University of California, Los Angeles, incurred the biggest cost, spending $10 million on safety and security plus $400,000 for building repairs and cleanup between March and June.
UC Berkeley spent $8 million on the protests, UC Irvine paid $2.9 million, UC Santa Cruz $2.7 million, UC San Diego $2 million and UC Santa Barbara $1.3 million, the Los Angeles Times reported.
At a UC Board of Regents meeting in San Francisco Thursday, several students criticized officials for “militarizing” system campuses. Outside, students expressed outrage about how much UC spent to police the protests while so many of their classmates are struggling to make ends meet.
“It’s absolutely atrocious that UC is willing to spend so much money to brutalize and silence us,” one UC Santa Cruz student told the Times. “This money should be reinvested in students so we have enough money not only to attend school but to thrive.”
UC Board of Regents chair Janet Reilly acknowledged the cost was high but said it was necessary to restore order.
“In several instances over the past several months, UC campus leaders were put in extraordinarily challenging situations,” she said in a statement to the Times. “We supported our chancellors’ decisions to do what they needed to protect our campus communities and enable students, faculty, staff, patients, and visitors to attend and teach classes, access medical care, get to work, continue research activities, and safely access public facilities. Our top priority is, and always will be, the safety of our community.”
