Petition to UCSC Chancellor: Support Divestment from TMT on Mauna Kea

To Chancellor Cynthia Larive:

As UC Santa Cruz students, faculty, staff, and community members inspired by the Native Hawaiian call of Kū Kiaʻi Mauna, we urge you to publicly recommend to UC President Michael Drake that the University of California divest and withdraw from plans to construct the Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT) atop the sacred mountain Mauna Kea.

By continuing to champion and fund TMT development in the face of overwhelming Native Hawaiian objection to its construction on Mauna Kea, the University of California demonstrates profound disregard for the rights of Indigenous peoples to protect their most sacred places. UC Santa Cruz continues to provide influential support in advancing the TMT project, with faculty members serving on the TMT Board of Governors and TMT Science Advisory Committee.

UC Santa Cruz students have been outspoken for years in solidarity with the Native Hawaiian protectors of sacred Mauna Kea. The UCSC Resource Centers, Graduate Student Association, Student Union Assembly, and City on a Hill Press Editorial Board have all issued unequivocal statements opposing the Thirty Meter Telescope on Mauna Kea. In keeping with UCSC’s stated commitments to dismantling structural racism and fostering a supportive environment for Native Hawaiian and other Indigenous students, we ask that you publicly voice your support in this critical matter of Native Hawaiian sovereignty and cultural integrity.

Painting by Nathan Vasquez of the Amah Mutsun Tribal Band