BREAKING: UC Davis paid $200,000 to improve Katehi’s internet reputation
They edited mentions of ‘Katehi’ and ‘pepper spray’ on Internet searches
New documents have been released as part of an investigation into the UC Davis administration revealing upwards of $200,000 was spent to eradicate mentions of “pepper spray”, “Katehi” and “UC Davis” online.
The information was first reported by the Sacremento Bee.
This, of course, is referring to the infamous incident in 2011 when Chancellor Linda Katehi authorized pepper spraying of students peacefully protesting outside her office.
Katehi meeting with several students
The University contracted with different partners on several campaigns. One sought to change the search results that came up when “pepper spray” or “Katehi” were entered into Google.
Another worked with the office of strategic communications at UC Davis to work on a new social media campaign.
Interestingly enough, the budget of the office of strategic communications has risen by over $2.5 million since Katehi took office as the Chancellor.
Yet another literally erased entries portraying Katehi and the pepper spraying incident in a negative light.
As seen at one of the #FireKatehi protests
The money for the consultants apparently came out of the communications budget.
These latest accusations certainly add fuel to the fire already lit under Chancellor Katehi, who is currently under investigation for moonlighting at several for profit universities and one publishing company.