Remember that week in 2017 when Milo Yiannopoulos came to Berkeley?

I was a junior at UC Berkeley when they announced his talk and the whole campus turned into a fortress overnight. Barricades everywhere, protestors on both sides screaming at each other, and I just wanted to get to my 10 AM sociology class. Did anyone else deal with a speaker visit that completely shut down normal campus life for days?

3 comments

3 Comments

sethfoster8d ago

That one DWP barricade on Sproul Plaza was basically a full-on construction zone for three days. Honestly, I half expected them to hand out hard hats just to get past the protest lines. Ngl, Milo showing up was just an excuse for the entire campus to have a massive, pointless scream-fest about free speech while the rest of us couldn't buy a burrito at the Bear Market without dodging a megaphone. Tbh that whole week made me miss the regular boring campus chaos of just finding parking.

the_piper8d ago

Haha oh god, the hard hat comment got me. I showed up to campus one day and literally walked into a wooden wall because I was staring at my phone, not looking where I was going. Felt like a real genius that day, just stood there like "guess I live here now." That whole week was such a mess, I actually started packing a lunch just so I wouldn't have to deal with the Bear Market madness. Honestly the most chaotic part was trying to find a bathroom that hadn't been turned into a protest headquarters.

leehall9d ago

Holy shit, a fortress? I was at SF State at the time and we heard about the Berkeley stuff. Barricades everywhere, that's insane. Can't believe you couldn't even get to class, what a nightmare.