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.

It was a year ago May that, as “the absolute last resort” before even beginning a mere 90 minutes of negotiations, Chancellor Reyes summoned riot police to remove protesters deeply concerned about Israel’s relentless bombardment of Gaza, a humanitarian catastrophe the International Court of Justice has deemed a ”plausible genocide.” His rationale: the unauthorized “structures” violated the university’s land-use policy and constituted a safety hazard. The ensuing night of chaos included 134 arrests, numerous injuries among protesters, including a broken leg, and its share of police violence and threats of violence. In other words, an actual safety hazard.

Note to Dr. Reyes: Kindly look up the common meaning of “last resort.”

I am a member of the UMass community, and, a year later, the memory still burns on many, many levels.

Let’s start with the concern that, startlingly, didn’t slow the hand of our economist-chancellor or that of his team of administrative hotheads: the financial cost of this impetuous move. What is known to date:

■UMass Police (UMPD) response: $42,024 for 46 officers.

■For the 160 Massachusetts State Police (MSP) officers who turned up in full riot gear: A months-long battle of public-records requests revealed $60,214 in costs, believed to be an undercount.

■Of the four other police and sheriffs’ departments that responded, another $2,961 in disclosed costs.

■The cost of the subsequent review of the administration’s response by Boston law firm Prince Lobel: $445,939, although, like with the MSP, it took many weeks and an appeal to the Massachusetts Supervisor of Records to even get an email back from UMass. Adherence to obscure university land-use policy appears more important to the administration than following actual Massachusetts law; in this case, pertaining to public records.

More than $550,000, with a cool half-million UMass dollars nor otherwise available for scholarships or other critical needs. Of course, undisclosed were many additional charges: the state police helicopter, which typically costs about $3,000/flight-hour, food for officers working overtime, transportation of protesters to and use of the Mullins Center, operating costs for 117 police vehicles, cost to the court system to process and prosecute the arrestees.

Hindsight is everything, but were I the decision-maker, I would have used my fine (UMass) economics degree to do a cost-benefit analysis as to whether spending scads of public dollars, while not all coming directly out of university coffers, was an optimal use of funds. But that’s me.

Maybe, if Dr. Reyes had a do-over, he might also consider: the predictable shattered trust with at least some of the UMass community, since, post-arrests, votes of no-confidence rolled in from faculty, staff, and students. A leader’s sacred obligation to protect other peoples’ children from avoidable harm, even those who disagree with them. That the atmosphere at the site was, as documented in the Prince Lobel report, ”peaceful,” at least until police arrived, and reasonably likely to stay that way. That May 7, the date of the arrests, was a mere nine days before graduation and that perhaps waiting it out might have been a superior option.

Maybe he would think a bit about the issues at hand: a few tents on the lawn vs. Israel’s increasing comfort with starvation as a weapon of war, collective punishment, and ethnic cleansing. Some on campus feeling ”threatened” or “alienated” by the protests vs. actual deaths of tens of thousands of Gazans.

Perhaps he might have listened to the opinions of those “experienced officers within UMPD (who) did not share the Chancellor’s dire safety assessment.” Could have consulted with presidents of universities such as Wesleyan who had taken a more collaborative (read: cheaper, friendlier) approach to student encampments, even raucous ones.

Since the dispute was only about the tents and pallets and not about the protests themselves, Dr. Reyes might have considered whether prohibiting a little unauthorized camping was truly worth the easily foreseeable cascade of damages: physical, emotional, and financial. And an apology to those harmed would be nice, even now. Even a “my bad.”

But, a year later, maybe we can agree that busting one’s students is rarely the best option.

Nancy E. Grossman lives in Leverett and is a UMass Amherst graduate and parent of a graduate.