UC Davis Chancellor Katehi Faces Faculty No-Confidence Vote Over Pepper-Spray Incident

DAVIS, Calif. (AP) The chancellor of the University of California, Davis is facing a faculty vote on her ability to lead the campus following the widely condemned pepper-spraying of student protesters.

Members of the UC Davis Academic Senate have been voting on a motion of no-confidence in the leadership of Chancellor Linda Katehi. A competing motion approves of her leadership.

Results are expected after the two-week voting period ends at 5 p.m. Friday.

The motions are nonbinding but could influence the future of the 57-year-old Katehi, who became chancellor more than two years ago.

The faculty vote comes three months after a campus police officer doused pepper-spray on sitting students who had set up an Occupy camp on campus. Widely circulated video of the Nov. 18 incident sparked national outrage.

Here is the "Motion Concerning the Chancellor's Judgment" from the Academic Senate:

TO: Professor Linda Bisson, Chair, Davis Division of the Academic Senate

Dear Chair Bisson

The undersigned members of the Davis Division of the Academic Senate hereby petition you to put the following motion of non-confidence in the leadership of the Chancellor to a vote of the entire membership of the Davis Division of the Academic Senate at the earliest date that is feasible under Senate rules.

Motion: In light of the events on the quadrangle of the UC Davis campus on the afternoon of Friday November 18, 2011, in light of Chancellor Linda Katehi’s email to faculty of November 18 in which she admitted that she had ordered the police to take action against the students who were demonstrating on the quadrangle and said that she had had “no option” but to proceed in this way, and in light of the failure of Chancellor Katehi to act effectively to resolve the resulting crisis in the intervening days, Be it therefore resolved that the Davis Division of the Senate of the University of California lacks confidence in the leadership of Chancellor Katehi, and Be it also resolved that the result of the vote on this motion be communicated to the Board of Regents and the President of the University of California.

Thank you for your attention to this matter.

Yours sincerely,

Signatories