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VOLUME 146, ISSUE 19 | THURSDAY, MARCH 9, 2023

Campus prepares for TPUSA event on March 14 UC Davis police, ASUCD and other organizations prepare as TPUSA founder Charlie Kirk is set to speak at the U Center next week BY SYDNEY AMESTOY

campus@theaggie.org Content warning: this article contains discussions of transphobia, homophobia and racism that might be disturbing to some readers. The UC Davis Police Department (UCDPD), ASUCD and campus community members are preparing for Turning Point USA (TPUSA) to return to campus on March 14 for a speaker event with the organization’s founder Charlie Kirk. The presentation, which will be held at the U Center, comes after protests outside of the last TPUSA event on Oct. 25 escalated, causing the event’s cancellation. TPUSA, a registered student organization, is a conservative student group with a mission to “identify, educate, train, and organize students to promote the principles of freedom, free markets, and limited government,” according to their website. Previously, the group has been criticized for bringing in guest speakers who have made statements that some students believe go against the UC Davis Principles of Community. The Oct. 25 event hosted Stephen Davis, who previously said that “systematic racism isn’t real.” Kirk, the planned speaker for the March 14 event, has been criticized for previous statements

Turning Point USA logo. (Turning Point USA / Courtesy)

that are anti-trans and anti-LBGTQ+, such as calling those who identify as LGBTQ+ a “social contagion.” Kirk spoke at UC Santa Barbara on March 1, where he called the East Palestine, Ohio train derailment a “war on white people.” According to Julie Ann Easley, a media specialist for UCDPD, campus police have plans in place for the event regarding security. This includes capping attendance of the event at 1,000 and requiring evidence of registration to attend. “In preparing for the student event, the campus has been working

with the student organizers to create an environment where freedom of speech can be exercised, including for those wanting to protest the speaker,” Easley said. “UC Davis has developed a comprehensive safety and security plan and is staffing appropriately for public safety needs.” At the last TPUSA event, UCDPD was not deployed despite escalation; instead, private security stepped in according to the Oct. 25 press release. According to the press release, campus police were not deployed because the situation was de-escalated without any serious injuries.

ASUCD is also preparing for the upcoming event by scheduling alternative programming at the same time as the event. According to ASUCD President Radhika Gawde, a finals study session will be held from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. that night. “ASUCD has been working closely with campus not only in our efforts to provide alternative spaces for students on March 14 but also to ensure that students remain safe if choosing to protest or attend the event,” Gawde said. After the last TPUSA event, ASUCD released an official statement condemning the counter-protesters who

arrived on campus, stating that they stood in solidarity with those who protested TPUSA’s presence on campus. After the incidents at Oct. 25 event, UC Davis reiterated its commitment to freedom of expression for all students and expressed regret that the event could not continue, according to a press release. “We understand that student groups following all campus policies are allowed to bring speakers to campus given the University’s obligations under the first amendment,” Gawde said. “It would be imprudent for members of ASUCD to be involved in conversations that might infringe upon the first amendment right of students even if the values of a group are inconsistent with those of the UC Davis Community.” Flyers calling for protests to Kirk’s arrival put on by unofficial student group Cops Off Campus have already been posted around campus, according to the group’s Twitter page. “[The UC Davis police] recognize there is the potential for conflict in settings where individuals are especially passionate about differing points of view,” Easley said. “We are prepared to do our best to deescalate potential incidents.”

UC Davis speaker event hosts Georgetown University expert on Uyghur crisis

UC Davis ends COVID-19 state of emergency

BY SONORA SLATER campus@theaggie.org

BY KAYA DO-KHANH

James Millward, a professor of intersocietal history at Georgetown University, came to UC Davis on March 2 to speak on the crisis in the Xinjiang region in China. The free event offered background and perspective on the topic of “colonialism and control in the Uyghur region in China,” according to a recent press release. The Uyghur population is predominantly Muslim, and the press release states that these people have “been subject to imprisonment, surveillance, religious intolerance, forced labor and forced sterilizations [...] by the Chinese government since 2014.” According to an article by the BBC from May 2022, several countries, including the U.S., have previously accused China of committing genocide in this region. In late 2021, an independent tribunal ruled that China committed genocide against the Uyghur people through birth control and sterilization with “genocidal intent” to erase the Uyghur culture and diminish their population, after hearing from more than 70 witnesses. Despite this, the International

On Feb. 28, UC Davis ended its COVID-19 state of emergency alongside the state of California, according to a letter from Chancellor Gary May on Feb. 17. The campus also ended its Interim Public Health Policy 290-01, which was aligned with county, state and federal guidance to prevent the spread of COVID-19 on campus, in addition to ending the daily symptom survey. “While we still have infections in our community, the impact on our lives is much different from when the pandemic started three years ago,” May said in the letter. “Disease prevention has shifted in that time from public health requirements to individual responsibility.” Additional rules that will end with the ceasing of Public Health Policy 29001 include requiring the reporting of positive COVID-19 cases, restrictions on events for visitors or volunteers and “Campus Ready” signs and floor markings. Regardless, the letter strongly encourages community members to continue to report positive cases of

The talk, led by James Millward, gave background and perspective on controversy in the Xinjiang region

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The university put an end to its pandemic public health policy on Feb. 28 campus@theaggie.org

The event will be hosted in the International Center’s multipurpose room on March 2. (Aggie file)

Criminal Court (ICC) has said that it will not investigate the allegations because China is not a member of the ICC and is therefore outside of its jurisdiction. According to an article by Forbes from 2020, there has been a push for the council to follow the precedent set in the case of Myanmar, a nonmember state. The ICC investigated cross-border crimes committed by Myanmar after the people there were forced to flee to Bangladesh, an ICC member state. Evidence that cross-border crimes by the Chinese government occurred within Tajikistan and Cambodia, both member states, could similarly allow the ICC to investigate the situation of the Uyghur people. However, so far the ICC has not agreed to take the case, and the Chinese government continues to deny all allegations of abuse. The controversy was brought into the public eye with the 2020 release of Disney’s live-action Mulan, part of which was shot in Xinjiang, according to Amanda Aguilo, who is the program coordinator for the East Asian Studies Department at UC Davis. Aguilo went on to say that part of the reason the department made the decision to host this event was to ensure that the conversation surrounding the issue continues, rather than letting it fizzle out with the media cycle. “Especially as students, there’s a lot of compassion fatigue, because there are so many worldwide issues that we grab on to and then forget about and move on,” Aguilo said. “So we thought it was important to bring up this issue and continue the conversation with an expert.” Millward teaches Qing, Chinese, Central Asian and world history, and his specialties include historical and contemporary Xinjiang, as well as broad knowledge of China-U.S. relations. Aguilo explained that she believes having an academic expert like Millward speak on the topic gives students a different perspective than the one they might receive on social media platforms.

“I’m sure we’re all very familiar with [how] social media news networks are all used to convey ulterior motives,” Aguilo said. “I think coming from a professional who researches this stuff, it’s nice to hear from someone who isn’t going into this with an objective but is just trying to report on it. We can’t be expected to be experts on everything we hear about, so having a professor come gets rid of that barrier.” Millward also gave some context for his perspective on the situation before beginning the lecture, saying that he was “a historian who got pulled into talking more about the contemporary situation.” “[This talk is] in the spirit of knowing why this is happening,” Millward said. “Not simply to be critical of China but to try to explain things in a way that might help leaders see a way out of it.” Millward began by giving a brief summary of the last 20 years of Xinjiang’s history. When 3G cell service became available in the region in 2013, according to Millward, cell phones became extremely common there for the first time. This increased residents’ level of connection with the outside world but also resulted in Whatsapp messages, voice memos and other information that citizens sent and received being made open to digital access by the state. Millward went on to say that a series of terrorist events across China in 2013 and 2014 resulted in strict antiterrorist laws and security protocols, which collectively became known by the international media as a new security regime. This included checkpoints where citizens’ phones were checked, QR codes on doors to check who was living at each house, increased police presence, the use of facial recognition technology and the gathering of information about citizens’ religious practices, travel history and so on. EASEVENTBRIEF on 4

COVID-19 and to take tests when necessary. The university announced that by Feb. 28, students and staff should also be up to date on booster shots or submit a declination form in Health-eMessaging. Students can schedule free appointments for Pfizer vaccinations and booster shots at the Student Health and Wellness Center through the Health-e-Messaging portal. The free distribution of rapid antigen test kits will continue through the end of the academic year at the Memorial Union information desk, student residence halls and the front desks at the ARC and Shields Library. “Contrast those dark early days of the pandemic with today’s COVID-19 reality: we have learned a lot about the SARS-CoV-2 virus; antigen tests are widely available and provide results in 15 minutes; safe and effective vaccines are available; safe and effective oral treatments are available; and we have enough PPE for healthcare workers along with high-quality masks for the general public,” Yolo County’s health officer Dr. Aimee Sisson said in a recent press release. “We are in a very different place than we were in March of 2020, and one where it is appropriate to end the COVID-19 emergencies.”

Free COVID-19 tests are available to all faculty and students free of charge at the MU. (Cruz Martinez / Aggie)