UC Berkeley Cancels Fall U.S. Senate Debate Over Protest, Safety Concerns

The UC Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies (IGS) announced on Friday that they have withdrawn their offer to host a U.S. Senate debate between Congressman Adam Schiff (D-CA) and former baseball player Steve Garvey (R) this fall, citing safety concerns and costs of the debate due to the campus forecasting that the Gaza protests and protest activity could still be very strong later this year.

 Throughout the 2024 U.S. Senate race, the UC Berkeley IGS has been one of the main polling groups in the state. They also proved to be one of the most accurate, showing Garvey getting an initial large chunk of support when other polling places showed much less, and was amongst the first polling places to accurately show Garvey solidly in second place over other candidates. Earlier this year, the IGS stated that they would be hosting one of the U.S. Senate debates between Schiff and Garvey, giving a Northern California location for the debates.

On campus, UC Berkeley was also one of the first campuses in the country to have pro-Palestinian protests last month. And while protests have been constant on campus, they have not escalated or got disruptive to the point of arrests. As such, the protests have largely stayed out of the national and state spotlight. Instead, the protests involving police action and mass arrests at Universities like UCLA, USC, and Cal Poly Humboldt have overshadowed them. Nonetheless, Berkeley’s protests have still been straining on the campus, with some violence occurring and hundreds protesting on campus.

With the campus seeing the protests going strong into the final weeks of the year, and the Gaza War having no end in sight, UC Berkeley officials said that the protests were likely to go into the fall, especially with an election coming this November. Concerned over possible protester violence and the security costs for such an event, the UC Berkeley IGS announced on Friday that the debate offer was withdrawn, effectively cancelling the Berkeley U.S. Senate debate.

“World events have resulted in heightened tensions on campus, which are unlikely to dissipate by the fall and may be even more intense due to the November election,” said UC Berkeley Governmental Studies Executive Director Dr. Christine Trost. “After considerable reflection, we have determined that we do not have the capacity to ensure a safe and civil event. We also don’t have the resources that would likely be needed to ensure adequate security for such a high profile event.”

IGS Co-Director Eric Schickler also added, “On any campus right now, you need to be responsible to have enough security and a plan to conduct the event so it’ll go on successfully. The kind of resources needed for a Senate debate in California with high stakes, high visibility — that’s beyond what a single unit like ours can do.”

Both the Schiff campaign and the Garvey campaign confirmed that they received e-mails from the University over the cancellation. However, while Schiff has not given a comment on the cancellation as of Friday afternoon, Garvey has denounced Berkeley’s decision. Garvey, who previously called the protesters on campuses terrorists and antisemitic, was heavily against the IGS decision, saying that they cowed to the protesters.

“It’s terrible how violent, pro-Hamas protesters are dictating campus policy, creating an unsafe environment for students, and preventing unique educational opportunities such as hosting this debate,” said Garvey in a statement. “School administrators and politicians must stop pandering to these antisemitic campus occupations and riots. It’s time we stood up for democracy, freedom of speech, and the safety of students, faculty, and events. This is a sad day for UC Berkeley.”

“School administrators and politicians must stop pandering to these antisemitic campus occupations and riots. It’s time we stood up for democracy, freedom of speech, and the safety of students, faculty, and events," he said. "This is a sad day for UC Berkeley."

— Steve Garvey (@SteveyGarvey6) May 10, 2024

Stephanie Lewis, a pollster in Southern California, told the Globe on Friday that “There will be other debates this year for them. But the IGS is a big loss because, during these statewide elections, you want to see debates all over, as every region of California is different. Like the Presidential debates. Some are deep in red country, some deep in blue country, and others in swing states.”

“For the Senate, even if Garvey has little more than a slim chance to win, you need SoCal, NorCal and Central California to be represented. Different issues will be brought up, everything from urban crime to agricultural water concerns. IGS cancelling their debate out of cowardice screws this dynamic up. That being said, they can still reverse their decision, especially if protests calm down. But for now, we’ll wait and see where those debates will take place this year. If Berkeley doesn’t want it, there will be others places that will want them.”

More on the Senate debates is to come out soon, as other debate locations are expected to be announced.