Good Cop, Bad Cop: Policing the University of California on Indigenous Rights

Engaging the largest public university system in the US on two fronts involving the institution's treatment of Indigenous peoples has put me in an awkward but instructive position. In each case issues of law and policy are central. Wearing my good cop hat, I am member of a University of California (UC) campus repatriation committee and find this work compelling and productive. Wearing my bad cop badge, my misgivings pertain to the direct involvement of the UC in the Thirty Meter Telescope project in Hawai`i, about which I have gone on record with the University Regents on multiple occasions. I will describe my work on both fronts, pointing to the ironic way appeals to the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples links them. Concluding, I will propose some thoughts about best practices and possible risks when engaging public universities from the inside.