Mis-Communiqué-ted: Occupiers Leave the Cross Cultural Center

By Ramon Solis
From the Swaggie

By mid-afternoon on January 30, members of the Occupy UC Davis movement packed up and left the Cross Cultural Center. To the public eye the Cross Cultural Center takeover had represented the actions of a unified protest movement, though insiders say that the action was not at all representative of what the majority of occupiers had desired.

Since the first general assembly of the UC Davis winter quarter, it had been announced that the CCC was vacant. There was an expectation in the air that the building could be used as a home base of operations, but the move was never a unanimous decision, said third year anthropology and philosophy double major Bret Lemke. “Well, it came as a surprise to me. I was under the impression that it was a solidarity rally. I personally was not in favor of the occupation,” said Lemke.

The actions had miffed many students as well as those of the Occupy camp themselves. One occupier, Nico [last name withheld], preferred the building not be occupied at all.

ASUCD Senator Jared Crisologo-Smith had the following to say in an e-mail: “While I am supportive of students’ rights to peacefully protest at our University, I believe the occupation of the old CCC/new EOP building was ultimately doing more harm than good to the student body, causing unnecessary division and animosity which could have been avoided.”

Now, the Cross Cultural Center has been cleaned up, a far cry from the sleeping bags strewn building just less than a week ago. All but one tent hiding behind a hedge bush remains by the building. The sign identifying the CCC was blanked out, but chalk-marked accolades still decorate the sidewalk entrance. Several tables and a lawn chair still hang outside.

Inside, the only vestige of the former CCC occupation is a painting on a column of a woman lending a hand to pick up someone below a cliff. Pencil sketches on the wall beyond the finished painting suggest that the artwork would have extended further.

The move to take the building has both divided and negatively impacted the Occupy UC Davis community. Under the cover of night, an unidentified thief had stolen four laptops, two cameras, and one tablet while Occupy members were sleeping in the CCC, according to American studies major and theft victim Natalia Kresich. Another camera and sound recorder, marked as the property of UC Davis, were left in the building, said UC Davis student Carla Orendorff, another victim of theft. Additionally, one unidentified occupier had published a rallying cry called “Communiqué from Occupied Crush Culture Center” that some occupiers felt were not representative of the collective movement.  “That comminqué served to do one thing, and that was to ostracize individuals,” said Lemke, “It’s divisive authoritarian rhetoric.”

Others were miffed by the communiqué’s use of “we”, which in its present manifestation, uses the collective pronoun 22 times. “How can you say “we” in a communiqué full of hate and injuries?” said Nico.

Ramon Solis writes true stories. You can reach him at ramon.s.solis at gmail.com