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Los Angeles Times
18-03-2025
- Politics
- Los Angeles Times
Chapman students march to protect DEI amid Trump antisemitism probe
A coalition of Chapman University student groups held a noontime protest one week after the U.S. Department of Education announced that the Orange campus is one of 60 colleges across the nation under investigation for alleged antisemitism. Following the March 10 letter that warned colleges risked losing federal funding if they failed to protect Jewish students, outgoing Chapman University President Daniele Struppa informed faculty and staff that two vice presidents, Norma Bouchard and Reg Stewart, were placed on administrative leave without explanation. Student activists from 33 campus groups assembled in front of a barricade of fences that otherwise prevented them from speaking on the steps of Memorial Hall to protest the move. 'Chapman University and so-called 'free speech advocate' Daniele Struppa [are] doing nothing to make Chapman students feel protected,' Scott Tucker, an activist with Chapman Students for Justice in Palestine, told rally-goers. 'We don't have to bend the knee to this administration.' At one point during the protest, Dean of Student Affairs Jerry Price informed student speakers that using bullhorns on the lawn in front of Memorial Hall wasn't allowed. He later tried to wrest one from Myth Moos, another SJP student activist, but left without it under a chorus of boos. 'The protest is perfectly legit,' Price told TimesOC. 'It's just that university policy prohibits amplified sound during class hours without advanced approval.' Pete Simi, a Chapman University sociology professor and expert on extremist groups, attended the rally to support principles of academic freedom, freedom of speech and DEI, which he said has come under attack, especially since President Donald Trump's return to the White House. 'I see the letter that Chapman got as part of a broader strategy by the current presidential administration to divide universities, to pit staff and administration against faculty and students,' he said. 'I see it as an effort to create fear and intimidation.' Bouchard had served as executive vice president, provost and chief academic officer at Chapman University since 2021. Struppa's email announced Glenn Pfeiffer as acting provost. The shakeup also sidelined Stewart as vice president of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. Gabriela Castañeda now leads the campus' DEI office. Josh Olatunji, a junior at Chapman, held up a 'Reinstate Dr. Reg Now' sign and described the move to put him on administrative leave as 'shocking,' especially for Black students like himself. 'Dr. Reg is one of the first people I met at Chapman,' he said. 'He led the 'brother bonding' meetings, which is a space for Black men to hang out with Black professors who I would have never otherwise known.' Chapman's DEI office came under fire earlier this year when it hosted the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Community Awards in January that honored Students for Justice in Palestine. Struppa later sent out a campus-wide email publicly criticizing the award while apologizing to Jewish students. The award was promptly rescinded. Olatunji believes the controversy played a role in the decision to put Steward on administrative leave. Carly Murphy, a Chapman spokesperson, cited privacy and confidentiality concerns in response to TimesOC questions whether the administrative moves were made in response to the Trump probe. 'Chapman remains committed to supporting all students of all backgrounds and is working with Dr. Gabriela Castañeda, who is leading our DEI team and operations, on next steps,' Murphy said. The campus is home to the Fish Interfaith Center, the Barry and Phyllis Rodgers Center for Holocaust Education and the new Or Initiative funded by a $1.85-million grant from the Samueli Foundation. But last February, the Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law sent a letter to the U.S. Dept. of Education and California's Civil Rights Office charging Chapman violated the civil rights of Jewish students. It alleged two Jewish students were barred from joining Students for Justice in Palestine, with one student reporting a 'death threat' she received online to university officials, who did not remove the alleged harasser from campus. 'These incidents demonstrate that Chapman is failing to protect Jewish students,' the letter read. Myth Moos, SJP co-president, believes campuses under investigation were targeted for pro-Palestinian activism, including the protest encampment at Chapman last year. 'SJP has always been open to Jewish students,' said Moos, who is Black and Jewish. 'I joined SJP around the time when students were alleging antisemitic incidents took place and, as a Jewish student, I can attest that I was welcomed in with open arms.' After Moos helped lead Monday's rally into a march, which included some Jewish students from Judaism On Our Own Terms, demonstrators circled around campus without much counterprotest. One man started chanting 'USA' at the crowd before he was drowned out by louder chants of 'DEI!' Half-a-dozen students with Chapman University College Republicans distributed fliers with Trump's image next to text reading 'DEI is over,' but declined to comment.
Los Angeles Times
05-02-2025
- Business
- Los Angeles Times
2 O.C. cities expand efforts to curb street vendors operating outside the law
Good morning. It's Wednesday, Feb. 5, and rain is in the forecast for the next couple of days. So, if you still own an umbrella it might actually be of use to you this week. I'm Carol Cormaci, bringing you this week's TimesOC newsletter with a look at some of the latest local news and events. Anaheim and Buena Park, both homes to renowned attractions that bring in a whole lot of visitors, also draw in a host of street vendors, some permitted, others not. Up and down California, including other O.C. cities where such vendors set up shop, officials have wrestled with how best to deal with them since the California Street Vending Act (Senate Bill 946) decriminalizing the practice was signed into law by then-Gov. Jerry Brown in 2018. To gain more control over the fruit carts and taco stands that appear on its sidewalks, the Buena Park City Council last week voted to give code enforcement officers the ability to seize illicit street food vending equipment 'if a vendor appears to have abandoned it or if it poses an imminent safety or environmental hazard,' according to this TimesOC story. Further, the city can impose a $265 impound fee to the operators involved. The change in city law will give Buena Park code enforcement 'the power to confiscate tents, tables and grilling equipment for 90 days, while also dumping food,' the article states. 'We've kind of hit our limits,' Councilman Connor Traut, a proponent of the measure, said during last week's meeting. 'We need this extra stick. It's a necessary step and I think we should still work towards encouraging legal street vending and amending rules, because the demand is there for folks in our community.' In what may have been sheer coincidence, the Anaheim City Council at the same time approved two $250,000 contracts for consultants to assist its code officers with cracking down on the vendors that set up their small enterprises on sidewalks without required permits. 'Neither [consulting firm] is being hired just for street vending,' Mike Lyster, a city spokesman, told TimesOC. 'We've actually had tremendous success with street vending enforcement on our own. We still have issues at the stadium, at Honda Center and along Harbor Boulevard. These contracts will give us more flexibility.' • Students for Justice in Palestine, the group that organized a pro-Gaza encampment at Chapman University, was recognized Jan. 21 during the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Community Awards hosted by the university's Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. The very next day, the recognition was strongly criticized in an email sent out by the president of Chapman, Daniele Struppa, with an apology to Jewish students and others who might have been offended by it. The award was subsequently rescinded. • An experimental amateur-built small plane that crashed into a warehouse near Fullerton Airport Jan. 2 had defects in a door that appears to have contributed to the collision, the National Transportation Safety Board said in a preliminary report. The accident took the lives of the pilot, Pascal Reid of Huntington Beach, and his 16-year-old daughter, Kelly, sparked a fire and led to eight serious and 11 minor injuries. • After a portion of the private walkway that snakes along a cliff in Laguna Beach collapsed in a landslide Friday morning, sending about 500 cubic yards of earth down on 1,000 Steps Beach and damaging a path there, city officials reported. No injuries occurred during the 7:15 a.m. 'significant bluff collapse,' they said. • Officials with South Coast Repertory are assessing damages and any losses to its production building in Santa Ana caused by a partial roof collapse during a period of high winds and rain on Jan. 26. The roughly 4,500-square-foot area that comprised the paint shop has been red-tagged by building inspectors. • A man suspected of killing a woman in Menifee Saturday morning was shot to death about three hours later at the Newport Beach Pier fallowing a pursuit by Santa Ana police officers. • A Los Angeles police sergeant was arrested Saturday night after authorities say he hit and killed a pedestrian in Tustin while driving intoxicated and fled the scene. Tustin police identified the driver as Carlos Coronel. • Jurors began hearing opening statements last week in the case against Antonio Padilla, who faces one count of murder in connection with the death of 60-year-old Gina Marie Lockhart, whose body was unearthed by detectives in the yard of his parents' mobile home in Huntington Beach on July 17, 2022. • Investigation into a citizen's complaint culminated last week when Laguna Beach police seized several illegal substances and made multiple arrests of people alleged to have been involved in the sale of illegal drugs at Cinder Box Smoke Shop on South Coast Highway. • Newport Beach police announced this week the arrest Friday night of a 30-year-old Chilean national in connection with a residential burglary near East Coast Highway and Pelican Point. • Twice-convicted drunk driver Serene Francie Rosenberg, 48, has been charged with the murder of 88-year-old Melvin Joseph Weibel after allegedly plowing her Land Rover SUV into the transit van he was a passenger in. The crash took place at around 6:15 p.m. Friday at the intersection of Stonehill Drive and Golden Lantern in Dana Point, according to the reporting of City News Service. • Angels outfielder Mickey Moniak was awarded a raise to $2 million Friday instead of the team's offer of $1.5 million in salary arbitration. Moniak hit .219 with 14 homers and a career-high 49 RBIs last year. • The new Huntington Beach Sports Hall of Fame inducted its first class on Sunday. It included, among other honorees, members of the 2011 Ocean View Little League team that won the Little League World Series back in 2011. You can find the complete list of the inaugural class here. • The Newport Harbor High surf team captured the Sunset League All-Star Championships last Wednesday. The Sailors finished with 192 points, edging powerhouse Huntington Beach, which scored 185 points. • Laguna Beach High School's girls' basketball team won the Pacific Hills League crown by beating Irvine, 53-31. The CIF Southern Section will release its playoff pairings on Feb. 8. • More than 18,000 entrants turned out Sunday for the Surf City Marathon in Huntington Beach. Antoine Puglisi of Los Angeles was the men's champion and Temucula's Stephanie Cullingford was the women's champion. Registration is already open for the 30th annual Surf City Marathon, set for Feb. 1, 2026, at Beach. • There's a new art exhibit at the Great Park Gallery in Irvine, themed 'More Than You Can Chew.' One of the 17 artist installations featured is from Seattle-based artist Eriko Kobayashi and is called 'Sunny Side Up.' The gallery's address is 270 Corsair. The exhibit runs through April 20. • Peter Quilter's play 'End of the Rainbow' will be on stage at the Gem Theatre, 12852 Main St., Garden Grove beginning Friday night and running through Sunday, Feb. 23. Curtain time on Fridays and Saturdays is 8 p.m., Sundays at 2 p.m. The play with music delves into the final chapter of Judy Garland's life. • 'Echoes of Conflict: Remembering Vietnam,' a comprehensive exhibit of items related to the Vietnam War, opens Saturday, Feb. 15, in Heroes Hall Museum at the O.C. Fair & Event Center, 88 Fair Drive, Costa Mesa. The exhibit features items such as uniforms, weaponry, photographs and letters. On display through Dec. 21; admission and parking are free. Until next Wednesday,Carol I appreciate your help in making this the best newsletter it can be. Please send news tips, your memory of life in O.C. (photos welcome!) or comments to
