Activist, UCI still at odds

Elia Powers

Almost a year after a protest that led to the arrests of nine UC

Irvine students, campus activist Matthew Cardinale is still waging a

battle against university administrators who he said behaved

improperly during the event and in the subsequent months.

Cardinale, 23, a sociology graduate student, filed a 26-page

complaint to the office of the university auditor late last year that

alleges a series of due process violations. Many of his allegations

stemmed from a May disciplinary hearing and a September appeals

hearing held for 18 students involved in protesting UCI

administrators’ plans to evict 100 low-income residents from the

Irvine Meadows West trailer park.

Following the March 30 protest, nine students spent the night in

the county jail after they attempted to block work crews from the

trailer park, which was razed over the summer. Cardinale was not

arrested in the incident.

None of the students faced prosecution, but Cardinale said more

than a dozen of them received a letter informing them that they were

in violation of two sections of the University of California policies

applying to campus activities, organizations and students.

“At the time, my primary interest was in saving the park,” he

said. “I was sympathetic to the interests of the residents. Now I am

fighting for students’ rights. The administration isn’t following its

own code.”

In a prepared statement, UCI officials said they are unable to

discuss any complaint or investigation with anyone not connected to

the formal inquiry.

In the complaint, Cardinale names five university officials who he

said violated university codes. He alleges in the complaint that

Student Judicial Affairs Director Byron Breland and former university

housing official Rob Ameele -- both of whom attended the protest --

created charges against the students.

Breland and Ameele said they had not seen a copy of Cardinale’s

complaint.

Ameele, who now serves as the assistant dean of the Claire Trevor

School of the Arts, said he and Breland were clear about their

intentions.

“We advised students of the consequences,” he said. “On the day of

the event, we were there in person and notified the students twice of

the work that was going to be done. We were clear that we needed

their cooperation.”

Breland, who said he is unable to talk about specifics of the

case, denied Cardinale’s allegations.

“Our office strives to resolve matters involving student

misconduct with fairness and evenhandedness,” he said. “A claim that

we would purposely do something that speaks to a conspiracy lacks

merit.”

Cardinale also accuses Breland of a conflict of interest in the

case because Breland attended the protest and presided as judge of

the initial hearing.

Others named in the complaint are Dean of Students Sally Peterson,

housing director Fred Lipscomb and Vice Chancellor of Student Affairs

Manuel Gomez.

Peterson, Lipscomb and Gomez were unavailable for comment.

University senior investigator Gwendolyn Thompson, who is handling

Cardinale’s complaint, told him that a decision is likely to be

reached in the next 60 days, Cardinale said.