two dozen students, including some of Stegeman's own, walked out of the course chanting “Our education is under attack: what do we do? Fight back!” Students then proceeded to flood Stegeman's office in McClelland Hall with flyers, handing them out to peers and students they met.
Students and supporters said they used the tactic of petty disruption to show they are upholding the U.S. Constitution with respect to its article on international treaties, which they point out makes the Ethnic Studies ban (HB2281) illegal and illegitimate. UA No Más Muertes coordinator, Gabriel Matthew Schivone, who was present as a witness and supporter of his fellow students' actions, stated: “The students' direct educational action this morning demonstrated that Stegeman is not above criticism in his role as a public educator nor is he safe from such criticism in his workplace, in full view of his peer faculty and students. I suspect Stegeman and his constituents will continue to be called out onto the carpet for their individual roles in perpetuating violations of the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights article on education, which the U.S. Constitution regards as the “supreme Law of the Land.” UA Psychology sophomore, Lisette Barragan, who was also present as a witness, talked with students in the class sitting behind her who were wondering why the issue was important and then gave their support when they learned what it was all about.
This is not the first time that students undertook a tactic of disrupting a public space and targeting individuals -- and the abhorrent policies they serve and represent -- in order to expose and condemn international human rights violations. In February 2010, students from University of California (UC) universities, Irvine and Riverside, led an action that disrupted Israeli Ambassador Michael Oren's speech at UC Irvine. Eleven Irvine and Riverside students stood up one-by-one during the talk to denounce Oren as a war criminal implicated in Israel's ongoing crimes against the Palestinians living under US-backed Israeli occupation, including the 2008-09 assault on Gaza that killed 1400 Palestinians, many of them women and children. The students were arrested and their group, Muslim Student Union (MSU), was suspended by UC Irvine for the fall 2010 semester. This February, the Orange County District Attorney's office announced its prosecution against the 11 students for disruption, and conspiracy to disrupt, a public meeting. Last month, the Irvine 11 pleaded not guilty, ...