Cal-USC football game delayed by protest calling for reinstatement of UC Berkeley professor

BERKELEY — The football game between USC and UC Berkeley on Saturday began with a protest, one that was met with confusion from the public and arrests of those involved.

Before the game’s scheduled 1 p.m. kickoff, a group of students sat down in the center of the Cal Bears’ Memorial Stadium field, with thousands in the stands for the start of the game. The football players waited on the sidelines while 15 people — all dressed in white t-shirts that read “JUSTICE 4 IVONNE” — locked arms, showing support for a professor currently on paid administrative leave.

The protest ended when police escorted the students from the field, after a delay to the start of the game by about 15 minutes. Jessica Perry, a public information officer with the Berkeley Police Department, said there were “numerous arrests” made, but referred calls for additional information to UC Police, who were not immediately available for comment.

It was the latest in a series of protests supporting Ivonne del Valle, an associate professor in the Department of Spanish and Portuguese at UC Berkeley. Del Valle is currently on paid leave after several university investigations found that she had harassed and stalked a colleague, according to a KQED report.

Several students who said they support del Valle spoke to KQED, describing her actions as a product of desperation during a difficult personal situation. Del Valle herself also spoke to the station, admitting some of the behavior described in the report but disputing other allegations.

“We were aware a protest may take place at today’s game and our top priority was the safety and well-being of our student-athletes, coaches and fans,” said UC Berkeley’s Assistant Vice Chancellor Dan Mogulof and Associate Athletics Director Jonathan Okanes, sharing a statement on behalf of Cal Athletics. “We are grateful for the work our security personnel did today to ensure we had a peaceful resolution.”

Some online observers erroneously attributed the protest Saturday to the situation in Israel and Gaza: While the students sat down on the football field, a large protest in San Francisco was calling for a ceasefire in the developing Middle East war.

Two days earlier, a similar protest had come to UC Berkeley itself. The university’s student newspaper reported that on October 26, hundreds of students and community members had gathered on campus to commemorate the Palestinians who have died in the conflict to date.