Campus builds escape hatch for Dirks’ office in California Hall
Last weekend, an emergency exit was built near Chancellor Nicholas Dirks’ office as a security measure against potential protesters.
The door, which cost $9,000, is located outside a short hallway between his conference room and his office in California Hall.
Construction of the door was requested about a year ago in response to a protest in April 2015 when protesters stormed the chancellor’s suite.
The funding was approved by the UC Office of the President for BE SMART funding — a UC-wide pool of money that provides funding for risk prevention.
According to campus spokesperson Claire Holmes, the door was built over the weekend to be less disruptive to people working inside California Hall. She said that all workers were provided overtime pay.
Holmes added that the building manager had spoken to the then-acting campus fire marshall who gave a “verbal OK” to construct the exit. Current campus fire marshal Curt Itson, however, said he was unaware of any project inside California Hall.
Assistant news editor Cassandra Vogel contributed to this report.
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