Leftist students at the University of California-Berkeley tried to shut down a mid-term exam, in part, because the professor was a white man, and demanded "significant time to prepare" for an alternative take-home exam.
The professor, Harley Shaiken, is a Professor of Social and Cultural Studies at the Graduate School of Education and is a member of the Department of Geography. He specializes in issues of work, technology, and global productions, and has advocated for improved workers' rights in Mexico, but that wasn't enough for the protestors.
"Well-beings are being put on the line because of the emotional, mental, and physical stress that this university is compounding with what is already going on in [their] everyday lives," one student said.
"This is our mental health. This is our physical health. This is...um," another demonstrator said before trailing off, scratching her head and turning to another protestor.
"I don’t know why you’re still, like, sitting down, y’all. I don’t understand. I really don’t understand. Y’all can take your f---ing test, but people are dying out there," another protestor said before then accusing students of supporting white supremacy.
Professor Shaiken offered to continue the conversation outside, but the protesters refused and said were going to the Department of Ethnic Studies to complain, an action Shaiken said they were "more than welcome to do."