CSU Northridge Coalition Protests Anti-Black, Anti-Student Policing After Campus President Beck Fails to Respond to Demands

A coalition of students, faculty, staff, and community members on April 11 protested CSU Northridge (CSUN) police’s aggressive tactics against students, many of whom are Black, after campus President Erika Beck failed to respond to demands.

Hands Off Students at CSUN took collective action at Admitted Matadors Day ten days after sending an open letter to Beck, calling on the university administration to mitigate ongoing harm and commit to eliminating anti-Black and anti-student policing.

Since Fall 2025, campus police have tased a student in student housing, violently removed a student from student housing, arrested a student while skateboarding, and detained students during and after a protest. Two of these students have pending felony charges after an encounter with campus police.

Campus police have arrested six students this academic year, said Del Williams, CSUN librarian and CFA Northridge Council for Racial and Social Justice representative and Faculty Rights co-chair. Three of those arrested are Black students, and the non-Black students’ arrests stemmed from their activism on campus, Williams said.

“The three Black students were arrested for being Black: one was arrested at a campus party, one while in her dorm room and the other while trick skateboarding on campus,” Williams said. “These are just the incidents I know about. I fear there may be other students that have had similar experiences. The over-policing and criminalization of our students must stop!”

CSUN’s Hands Off Students campaign has demanded the abolition of campus police, the dismissal of charges resulting from campus policing actions, the termination of campus police who used excessive force, the disclosure of all policies on police surveillance on campus, and the establishment of regular community police accountability forums. In the letter, the coalition told Beck she had until April 10 to provide a formal response with clear timelines, accountability measures, and concrete actions. Beck neglected to do so.

Because we are an anti-racism, social justice union, CFA members participated in Saturday’s protest. CSUN is a Minority-Serving Institution (MSI), Hispanic-Serving Institution (HSI), and newly recognized Black-Serving Institution (BSI), and has a responsibility to ensure student success and belonging for its diverse students.

CSUN’s mission centers psychological safety, wellness, and equitable conditions for students to thrive.

In February, Beck affirmed her commitment to the recruitment, retention, and success of Black students at CSUN. So far, Beck’s commitment to the recruitment, retention, and success of Black students has fallen short of CSUN’s mission.

Joshua Gallardo, CSUN Students for Quality Education (SQE) intern, said it’s disappointing to see how the administration continues to ignore policing issues while advertising the university’s diversity.

“It’s very hypocritical, and it shows the disconnect that the administration has to the student body,” Gallardo said. “If it wasn’t for the faculty who are organizing to advocate for us, we would be in a very dangerous position because as students we are very vulnerable to violence and oppression. Because we’re students, we have a lot to lose.”

Along with the Hands Off Students campaign at CSUN, CFA members call on the university administration to align its practices with its values and to meet the coalition’s demands to eliminate anti-Black and anti-student policing.

“CSUN cannot continue to claim a commitment to Black student success while enabling systems that harm, criminalize, and endanger those very students,” the coalition wrote in the open letter to Beck.  “The current conditions are untenable. The time for rhetoric has passed. We demand action.”