College protests updates: Police begin dismantling University of Chicago encampment

UCLA Chancellor Gene Block announced Sunday that the university is taking several immediate steps to increase campus safety following protests that prompted the closure of the school last week.

Block said the newly created Office of Campus Safety will oversee the management of the UCLA Police Department and the Office of Emergency Management. The administrative vice chancellor was previously in charge of the agencies.

Rick Braziel, the former Sacramento chief of police, will head the new Office of Campus Safety, Block said. Braziel will report directly to Block.

Additionally, Block said he has created a formal advisory group of safety experts who will partner with Braziel, including U.C. Davis Police Chief Joh Farrow; Vickie Mays, professor of psychology and health policy and management at UCLA, and Jody Stiger, the U.C. Office of the President systemwide director of community safety.

"In the past week, our campus has been shaken by events that have disturbed this sense of safety and strained trust within our community," Block said in a statement Sunday. "In light of this, both UCLA and the UC Office of the President have committed to a thorough investigation of our security processes. But one thing is already clear: To best protect our community moving forward, urgent changes are needed in how we administer safety operations."

-ABC News' Izzy Alvarez

Classes are scheduled to resume Monday at UCLA after the campus was closed due to protests that broke out last week, officials said Sunday.

The school announced that employees are expected to resume work on Monday and faculty are "encouraged to resume in-person instruction as soon as possible."

Some instructors are being given the option of conducting courses remotely at their discretion through May 10 "without the need for departmental authorization.

"A law enforcement presence continues to be stationed around campus to help promote safety," school officials said in a statement.

-ABC News' Tristan Maglunog

The University of Southern California's University Park campus has reopened Sunday after a pro-Palestinian tent encampment was cleared out and dismantled, the university said.

All students, faculty and staff must present valid identification, USC said.

New York City Mayor Eric Adams on Sunday defended the police crackdown on college campus protests that have broken out in America's largest city.

"When those protests reach the point of violence, we have to ensure that we use a minimum amount of force to terminate what is perceived to be a threat," " Adams told ABC News "This Week" co-anchor Jonathan Karl.

Adams added that the police intervention resulted from days of communication between the police and school officials.

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'We cannot take this lightly’: Eric Adams on campus protests

ABC News’ Jonathan Karl interviews New York City Mayor Eric Adams on “This Week.”

ABCNews.com

"We knew we had to get permission unless there's imminent threat to life, or severe threat to property," he said, adding, "We were not going to overstep our legal authority."

When pressed by Karl about criticism, including from some other Democrats, that the response to protesters was disproportionate given that they were largely nonviolent, Adams said, "One has the right to have his or her opinion, and I respect that. ... And I have an obligation and responsibility to ensure the city is safe."

-ABC News' Kristina Abovyan