Last Updated on October 28, 2023
Protesters who sat on the 50-yard line and postponed the beginning of the California vs. University of Southern California football game on Saturday were protesting the suspension of a Berkeley Colonial Studies professor who is on administrative leave for allegedly stalking another professor.
The protesters at the Cal-USC game reportedly wore shirts to show solidarity with a professor named Ivonne del Valle, who is on leave after she allegedly keyed another professor’s car and carried on a sustained stalking campaign against him.
And the sit-in for … I’m not sure what the shirts say … is ending.
USC-Cal pic.twitter.com/ZEwB3k5G1p
— Ryan Young (@RyanYoungRivals) October 28, 2023
Ivonne del Valle, an associate professor in the Spanish and Portuguese department who specializes in so-called colonial studies, evidently thought that a professor at UC Davis hacked her, but the UC Berkeley Office for the Prevention of Harassment and Discrimination discovered “insufficient evidence to support a finding” that would implicate the other professor in hacking or online stalking. Then, Ivonne del Valle allegedly stalked the UC Davis professor by keying his car and putting a message that says “I raised a psychopath” at his mother’s place, among other feats. So, pretty typical behavior for a member of public academia?
The protesters were mis-identified in some reports as pro-ceasefire protesters who support the Palestinians. Clearly, shutting down the start of an American college football game is not the brightest protest strategy. But for the supporters of Ivonne del Valle, they certainly had their moment at midfield.
