2021-03-03 15:53:41 -0500
To: The University of California Office of the President, Michael V. Drake; UCLA Chancellor, Gene Block
Force UCLA To Reverse Its Unjust Decision
Petition Text
In forcing the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) to reverse this unjust student expulsion decision, you are forcing UCLA to:
—Comply with the UCLA Faculty Code of Conduct and the UCLA Statement of Ethical Values & Standards of Ethical Conduct;
—Respect facts and the conclusions of UCLA faculty members, and respect UCLA students;
—Make a public apology for serious violations of academic codes and ethical principles at this public university;
—Reinstate this former UCLA student, Tom Wilde, with no further tuition due from him;
—Repay his UCLA student loan and pay him for the harm done to him and this public university;
—Stop abusing UCLA students.
—Comply with the UCLA Faculty Code of Conduct and the UCLA Statement of Ethical Values & Standards of Ethical Conduct;
—Respect facts and the conclusions of UCLA faculty members, and respect UCLA students;
—Make a public apology for serious violations of academic codes and ethical principles at this public university;
—Reinstate this former UCLA student, Tom Wilde, with no further tuition due from him;
—Repay his UCLA student loan and pay him for the harm done to him and this public university;
—Stop abusing UCLA students.
Why is this important?
FIRST, you need to know that after UCLA kicked me out of a Ph.D. program in the UCLA Graduate School of Education & Information Studies, UCLA's own tenured faculty members made the following statements:
"[N]either of us had been asked for any background information on Mr. Wilde's case. Nor apparently was much effort taken to verify the apparent facts of Mr. Wilde's academic record. Incompletes that had been cleared were listed as Fs and no enquiries about their real status or about the student's general progress were made." Dr. Nicholas Blurton-Jones (Graduate Advisor) & Dr. Val Rust (Division Head); UCLA Graduate School of Education & Information Studies
"If you apply for [re]admission, the dept [UCLA Graduate School of Education] has to consider your case, so the faculty member you mentioned might be able to push for readmission without the dept having to acknowledge any wrongdoing." UCLA Distinguished Professor, Dr. Edward L. Keenan; UCLA Department of Linguistics
"[A] random collection of faculty (however distinguished) has no status within the university power structure. No one would be obliged to pay any attention to us." UCLA Distinguished Professor, Dr. Edward L. Keenan; UCLA Department of Linguistics
"The case is clear-cut: they had no basis for dismissing you as you met the formal qualifications. Moreover, they gave you no other reasons, so any further reasons they give now are beside the point. All this is obvious. I have no difficulty saying it forcefully to anyone. The difficulty will be to force them to reverse themselves due to their unjust decision." Dr. Robert Brenner; UCLA Department of History
"This [UCLA student dismissal] is a wrong to right." Dr. Val Rust to Dr. Robert Brenner
THIS PETITION releases these UCLA faculty statements to the public to show that UCLA administrators are expelling students by disregarding facts and violating the UCLA Faculty Code of Conduct and the UCLA Statement of Ethical Values & Standards of Ethical Conduct. Moreover, UCLA administrators surely know as well as these UCLA faculty members that in expelling UCLA students in this manner, "the case is clear-cut," that "they had no basis for dismissing you," and that "all this is obvious." (Dr. Robert Brenner)
But UCLA administrators surely also know as well as Dr. Brenner that, in his words, "The difficulty will be to force them to reverse themselves due to their unjust decision."
THEREFORE, your response to how UCLA administrators are expelling UCLA students is crucial in this case. Say nothing and UCLA administrators will continue abusing UCLA students by discarding facts and violating its academic codes and ethical principles. But say something and you provide yourself an invaluable opportunity to stop their abusive student expulsion operation at one of the world's most prestigious public universities. Perhaps even more importantly, pursuing this opportunity will lead you to a far deeper understanding of how UCLA operates, not only on its students, but also on its faculty members—because the material for this understanding comes from the real difficulty that arises when you confront a globally recognized public university that is abusing its immense power. After all, there is a very good reason for why UCLA's Dr. Brenner says, "The difficulty will be to force them to reverse themselves": UCLA administrators who are abusing their power are going to use this same power to fight off challenges to their abuse of UCLA students. So unless people come together to force UCLA administrators to reverse their unjust decisions, they will simply continue abusing those they perceive have the least power—UCLA students. Moreover, because UCLA cannot operate except in the names of its faculty and administrators, your response to UCLA gives you an important opportunity to find out much more about the role of the UCLA faculty and administrators behind these names.
Indeed, the UCLA faculty statements I've provided here stand as stark testaments to the level of power that UCLA administrators have attained. Because when UCLA faculty are making these conclusive—and damning—statements on how their own university is abusing their students and nobody is speaking out publicly on this abuse, we've all then moved UCLA into the realm of a quasi-religious institution, where revealing how UCLA administrators abuse UCLA students is strictly avoided (or when such revelations do surface, they are suppressed) by all those now genuflecting before this now 'hallowed'—and now hollowed-out—institution.
My hope is that you respond to UCLA on this case in order to force UCLA to reverse this unjust decision—and end UCLA administrators' abuse of UCLA students. However, I would like to emphasize this crucial point: If enough of you work together with enough power to force UCLA to reverse its unjust decision, you need to make clear that my reinstatement to UCLA is in fact only a consequence of your forcing UCLA to comply with UCLA's Faculty Code of Conduct and its Statement of Ethical Values & Standards of Ethical Conduct. The real purpose of your collective force in this case is not only to protect UCLA students and the foundations of a truly public university, but also to publicly demonstrate that your collective efforts here are what's necessary to sustain this vital public university and ensure that it remains in the hands of the people who built the University of California—you, the public.
"[N]either of us had been asked for any background information on Mr. Wilde's case. Nor apparently was much effort taken to verify the apparent facts of Mr. Wilde's academic record. Incompletes that had been cleared were listed as Fs and no enquiries about their real status or about the student's general progress were made." Dr. Nicholas Blurton-Jones (Graduate Advisor) & Dr. Val Rust (Division Head); UCLA Graduate School of Education & Information Studies
"If you apply for [re]admission, the dept [UCLA Graduate School of Education] has to consider your case, so the faculty member you mentioned might be able to push for readmission without the dept having to acknowledge any wrongdoing." UCLA Distinguished Professor, Dr. Edward L. Keenan; UCLA Department of Linguistics
"[A] random collection of faculty (however distinguished) has no status within the university power structure. No one would be obliged to pay any attention to us." UCLA Distinguished Professor, Dr. Edward L. Keenan; UCLA Department of Linguistics
"The case is clear-cut: they had no basis for dismissing you as you met the formal qualifications. Moreover, they gave you no other reasons, so any further reasons they give now are beside the point. All this is obvious. I have no difficulty saying it forcefully to anyone. The difficulty will be to force them to reverse themselves due to their unjust decision." Dr. Robert Brenner; UCLA Department of History
"This [UCLA student dismissal] is a wrong to right." Dr. Val Rust to Dr. Robert Brenner
THIS PETITION releases these UCLA faculty statements to the public to show that UCLA administrators are expelling students by disregarding facts and violating the UCLA Faculty Code of Conduct and the UCLA Statement of Ethical Values & Standards of Ethical Conduct. Moreover, UCLA administrators surely know as well as these UCLA faculty members that in expelling UCLA students in this manner, "the case is clear-cut," that "they had no basis for dismissing you," and that "all this is obvious." (Dr. Robert Brenner)
But UCLA administrators surely also know as well as Dr. Brenner that, in his words, "The difficulty will be to force them to reverse themselves due to their unjust decision."
THEREFORE, your response to how UCLA administrators are expelling UCLA students is crucial in this case. Say nothing and UCLA administrators will continue abusing UCLA students by discarding facts and violating its academic codes and ethical principles. But say something and you provide yourself an invaluable opportunity to stop their abusive student expulsion operation at one of the world's most prestigious public universities. Perhaps even more importantly, pursuing this opportunity will lead you to a far deeper understanding of how UCLA operates, not only on its students, but also on its faculty members—because the material for this understanding comes from the real difficulty that arises when you confront a globally recognized public university that is abusing its immense power. After all, there is a very good reason for why UCLA's Dr. Brenner says, "The difficulty will be to force them to reverse themselves": UCLA administrators who are abusing their power are going to use this same power to fight off challenges to their abuse of UCLA students. So unless people come together to force UCLA administrators to reverse their unjust decisions, they will simply continue abusing those they perceive have the least power—UCLA students. Moreover, because UCLA cannot operate except in the names of its faculty and administrators, your response to UCLA gives you an important opportunity to find out much more about the role of the UCLA faculty and administrators behind these names.
Indeed, the UCLA faculty statements I've provided here stand as stark testaments to the level of power that UCLA administrators have attained. Because when UCLA faculty are making these conclusive—and damning—statements on how their own university is abusing their students and nobody is speaking out publicly on this abuse, we've all then moved UCLA into the realm of a quasi-religious institution, where revealing how UCLA administrators abuse UCLA students is strictly avoided (or when such revelations do surface, they are suppressed) by all those now genuflecting before this now 'hallowed'—and now hollowed-out—institution.
My hope is that you respond to UCLA on this case in order to force UCLA to reverse this unjust decision—and end UCLA administrators' abuse of UCLA students. However, I would like to emphasize this crucial point: If enough of you work together with enough power to force UCLA to reverse its unjust decision, you need to make clear that my reinstatement to UCLA is in fact only a consequence of your forcing UCLA to comply with UCLA's Faculty Code of Conduct and its Statement of Ethical Values & Standards of Ethical Conduct. The real purpose of your collective force in this case is not only to protect UCLA students and the foundations of a truly public university, but also to publicly demonstrate that your collective efforts here are what's necessary to sustain this vital public university and ensure that it remains in the hands of the people who built the University of California—you, the public.