UC Regents Meeting at UCLA
Email address for the UC Regents:
Remember to make some changes & put this in your own voice! Also be sure to add your name at the end before sending.
Subject: We want security fences around vulnerable UC Berkeley dorms
Dear UC Regents,
I am writing to you as a concerned parent of a student at UC Berkeley. I am deeply troubled by the recent incidents of violent crime that have taken place around the campus. I am aware of the statements the Regents have made about all members of the UC community needing to feel safe, and I believe that more needs to be done to ensure the safety of UC Berkeley students.
It is alarming to hear about students being robbed, assaulted, and held up at gunpoint in and around the UC Berkeley campus. As a parent, I am particularly concerned about the safety of students who live in the South Side residence units. Dangerous intruders have entered these buildings multiple times over the last year, committing sexual battery and terrorizing the students who live there. It is imperative that UC Berkeley takes action to ensure their safety.
I urge you to encourage Chancellor Christ to build a protective fence around the South Side Units to prevent dangerous intruders from entering these dorms. You clearly already see that a security fence works: you’re paying for one to go up around UC President Michael Drake’s house. If a fence is good enough to protect his family, it is good enough for ours: the students who are living in fear as dangerous intruders enter their living spaces.
UC parents are no longer willing to accept excuses and delays in implementing measures that would increase student safety. That is why hundreds of Cal parents have formed a new advocacy group called SafeBears to highlight the need for better safety at Cal.
There are a number of practical measures Chancellor Christ can take to improve safety at Cal: filling the massive vacancies at UCPD, stationing Security Monitors at each dorm after dark, offering free or discounted rideshares to students after dark, and more. You can find these and other measures on our website, safebears.org.
As UC Regents, it is your responsibility to ensure that all UC students are safe from physical and psychological harm. We are going to continue raising our voices at Regents meetings to ensure that UC Berkeley takes the necessary steps to improve student safety.
I urge you to take immediate action to address the concerns of parents and students.
Sincerely,
[Your Name]