Alternate Principles of Community
Posted: September 15th, 2022 | Author: ucdcoc | Filed under: Disorientation Guide '22-'23 | Comments Off on Alternate Principles of Community
By the end of orientation week, you will certainly have heard multiple references to UC Davis’s Principles of Community. These principles list the values that UC Davis professes to uphold.
- Affirm the dignity inherent in all of us
- Endeavor to foster mutual understanding and respect
- Affirm the right of freedom of expression
- Promote … our individuality and our diversity within the bounds of courtesy, sensitivity, and respect
- Confront and reject all manifestations of discrimination
- Take pride in our achievements, celebrate our differences
Take a look around. Does it look like UC Davis actually cares about these things? Based on the actions of administrators and the institution as a whole, we clearly know better.
Here is an updated list of principles that accurately reflect the institutional priorities and values of UC Davis, the Alternate Principles of Community:
Alternate Principles of Community
- “Civility” means “shut up”
- Police toys matter more than good, well-compensated instructors
- Disabled students and universal accessibility are a low priority
- No student is inherently deserving of food or housing
- The exorbitant amount of money that is extracted from you for “tuition and fees” will go towards paying Chancellor Gary May’s annual salary of $587,865 while your lecturers and TAs cannot afford the cost of living in California
- Student-run organizations on campus must be carefully monitored and stopped from challenging or questioning the profit-hungry institution that is UC Davis
Building Community at UCD Outside Harmful Institutions
As you enter orientation, remember that this is the same university that just months ago, despite an excessive heat warning, held a graduation ceremony outdoors without shade. Remember that this is the university that still refuses to provide a safe, accessible working and learning environment for its disabled and immunocompromised community throughout an ongoing pandemic. The university’s “Principles of Community” are a collection of empty, meaningless statements that serve to provide you with a false sense of comfort. As with anything the administration does, they have toiled over and devoted countless resources to constructing ideals that they have no intention of upholding. Do not trust a word from them about equity and justice as they attempt to demolish any meaningful sense of community on campus. True community is a threat to everything this institution was built on, stands for, and perpetuates. True community lies within the shared experiences, grievances, and struggles you and your peers face.
These “Principles of Community” come from a university that prioritizes profits over people and regularly uses violence to enforce the status quo. You are told that the hundreds of dollars you are required to pay to attend a mandatory orientation session is because “orientation is a self-supporting program.” The university cites the employment of “600+ Student staff who serve as program managers and orientation leaders trained to support their peers and create personalized experiences” as a cost that the orientation fee covers. UC Davis spends millions of dollars on police and the salaries of administrators, so why do you have to pay a fortune to attend a mandatory orientation? Admin will try to convince you that it is your fees that are needed to pay the orientation staff, especially the many students who work as orientation leaders. Admin has always tried to pit students against workers, making it seem like the majority of your tuition dollars go to paying the workers who perform the day-to-day operations on campus. In reality, an egregiously large percentage of expenses come from paying the police and admin (who are another form of police).
During orientation, UC Davis will encourage you to make new friends and join student organizations. They will even encourage you to create your own registered student organization. It is important to note that the function of registering a student organization is not to benefit you or your organization but to make it easier for the administration to surveil you and your organization (read Cops By Any Other Name). By giving registered student organizations privileges such as the ability to reserve rooms for club meetings and withholding privileges from groups that are not registered student organizations, admin attempts to maintain control over student activities. However, we do not discourage you from joining registered student organizations that support abolition. We would like you to acknowledge the role that “registering” a student organization plays in the administration’s desperate attempts to limit free expression and to maintain control of your activities.
We also encourage you to look to the community for organizations or informal groups to join. Remember, you don’t have to have a formal organization to do things, all you need are a few friends who have the same values and the desire to see stuff happen. In fact, you may want to look into joining or forming an affinity group. You’ll certainly find other UC Davis students who are involved in formal or informal community organizations, and you’ll develop meaningful connections within the community. Below is a list of student organizations and community organizations that support abolition that you can join! Make friends, get involved, and find fulfillment in building community! Just remember that there are many avenues you can explore (outside what the university recommends that you do). There are also countless opportunities for you to build power with fellow students and community members in a way that undermines the nature of an institution like UC Davis.
All of this is not to dismiss your accomplishments or your excitement about embarking on your journey through college, but to warn you of what’s to come and to connect you to networks of people who will care for your well-being more than UC Davis will. I, like many of you, felt hopeful as I began my time at UC Davis. It takes time and patience to grapple with the reality of appreciating the amazing friends you will make here and the experiences you’ll come to cherish while knowing that the institution that brought you together is inherently harmful. Whether it is through reading this Disorientation Guide, or through the lessons you will learn in the years you will spend at UC Davis, we hope you will learn that it is possible to build community outside of harmful institutions—community that will help you flourish and tear those same institutions down.
| Name of Organization | Org Contact Info | Type of Org | Short description | Other info |
| Davis Free Association of Socialists (DFAS) | Discord Invite Link |
Registered Student Organization | Big-tent org for folks looking to learn or discuss about socialism, engage in activism, or just hang out with other nerds | |
| The Davis Night Market | Website |
Mutual Aid | The Night Market distributes free food at Central Park, 4th & C! M-F from 9-11pm | Bring a bag and reusable containers if you can! Come get some food or volunteer to help out |
| UC Davis Books to Prisoners | Patreon | Prisoner Support | Provides books to incarcerated people in CA and beyond. | |
| Davis Food Not Bombs | Website |
Mutual Aid | A mutual aid group that aims to feed food insecure community members and reduce food waste. Meals are free, vegan, and open to all. | Serving food on the 2nd and 4th Sundays of the month at Central Park (4th and C) |
| Students for Reproductive Freedom at UC Davis | Listserv |
Registered Student Organization | A Reproductive Justice and abortion positive student advocacy group | We have weekly general meetings, social events, mutual aid efforts, and more! |