Cal-USC kickoff delayed following apparent student protest at midfield

A 4 p.m. EST kickoff scheduled for Cal and USC in Berkeley was delayed as a group of apparent UC-Berkeley students went on the field and protested. The protest was in response to the school suspending a professor — Ivonne del Valle — for reportedly stalking and harassing a UC-Davis professor, Joshua Clover.

Students told Bay Area TV station KQED they intended to disrupt the football game between Cal and USC in some way. The protest was peaceful, with around a dozen students sitting at midfield and wearing T-shirts with a message calling for justice for del Valle.

They also carried a sign reading “NO JUSTICE NO GAME.”

Police on scene told the Orange County Register’s Luca Evans that the protesters are being taken to jail. The nature and extent of their charges is not yet known, or if any end up being formally brought against the protesters.

Students in support of del Valle, the lone Mexican woman among the universities Spanish and Portuguese faculty, have stated they are willing to escalate measures to a hunger strike if necessary. Nearly 300 people have signed an online petition calling for her reinstatement.

UC-Berkeley suspended del Valle for a string of behaviors — some that del Valle admitted to in an interview with KQED — that stemmed from what she said was a lack of support from the university after apparently having devices hacked.

According to KQED, del Valle acknowledged keying the student’s car, vandalizing the area outside his apartment door, contacting his friends, posting an image of his partner online and leaving messages outside the home of his mother, as well as calling his office repeatedly in a short window of time.

Del Valle alleged her actions were after university officials and authorities failed to respond adequately to her concerns that she was hacked. Analysis of her cell phone and computer that she shared with KQED showed that her cell phone had been compromised but didn’t offer any conclusive information about who did it or that it was put through hacking or a cyber attack.

A UC-Berkeley spokesperson told KQED that the administration doesn’t unilaterally handle misconduct allegations against faculty. The universities Academic Senate has a committee to determine if misconduct likely occurred and then forward disciplinary recommendations to the chancellor.

A previous version of this story erroneously stated the reason for the protest was the ongoing Israeli offensive in Gaza following a Hamas terror attack.