Cal sent his name to the Trump administration. He's still kept up a 38-day hunger strike for Gaza.

"The only meal Peyrin Kao ate Thursday was three pieces of toast. That covered the 250 calories per day Kao says he has restricted himself to for more than a month, meant to simulate the diet of people enduring famine in Gaza. Pangs of hunger wake him up most nights. When he lectures his computer science class at UC Berkeley, his entire body aches. He was already underweight when he started the hunger strike 38 days ago. Now, he says, he's about 15 pounds lighter."

"Unlike many people in Gaza, though, I still have a bed to sleep in. I can take a shower every day. I have clean water to drink. I can take vitamins, Kao said. All around campus, in rallies and meetings and videos filmed in Sproul Plaza, Kao has been reiterating for weeks how his hunger is just a microcos of what's happening in Gaza. His starvation diet is based on an Oxfam report from April 2024 finding people in parts of the territory are surviving on the caloric equivalent of less than a can of fava beans per day."

"About a week after beginning his hunger strike, on Sept. 4, Kao received an email from the university's Office of Legal Affairs telling him that his name was included in documents related to alleged antisemitic incidents that Cal sent to the federal government. He's just one of about 160 faculty, staff, and students who learned their names had been shared with the Department of Education as part of a national investigation into antisemitism allegations at 60 universities. UC Berkeley is one of 10 that the Trump administration has also singled out for special inspection by a federal task force."

Peyrin Kao, a UC Berkeley computer science lecturer, has been on a hunger strike for 38 days, limiting himself to roughly 250 calories per day to simulate famine conditions reported in Gaza. He experiences nightly hunger pangs, body aches while teaching, and significant weight loss, though he retains access to shelter, showers, clean water, and vitamins. Kao bases his diet on an Oxfam report documenting extreme caloric deprivation in parts of Gaza. About a week into the strike, Kao received notice that his name had been included in university documents sent to the federal government amid a national investigation into alleged antisemitic incidents.

Read at www.berkeleyside.org