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Under the pretext of autonomy, French universities have begun rationalizing their operations, which has led, among other things, to staff reduction and the development of managerial practices. The authors, who are both researchers and activists, analyze the brutal and exceptional form that these managerial practices can take, using a conflict that arose in a medium-sized institution. In the academic department studied, the vertical power and top-down management that central and local directors are seeking to impose collides with a particularly strong tradition of collective, horizontal, and bottom-up power. Administrative agents, who are essential relays of new organizational practices and firmly enclosed in the administrative hierarchy, are those most exposed to managerial violence.