In the end, the dispute came down to about 15 tents and a fence loosely constructed of wooden pallets that had collectively been up for less than a day. But this small encampment was enough to trigger an ill-considered decision by first-year UMass Amherst Chancellor Javier Reyes that cost taxpayers more than half a million dollars and drove a likely permanent wedge between the administration and some of the UMass community.
