Exchange of Letters

 

From the California Post: The Undergraduate Students Association Council claimed hosting Hamas torture survivor Omer Shem Tov “obscured the broader reality of ongoing state violence.” UCLA was quick to slam the group’s comments and one member broke ranks to brand it “blatantly disrespectful” and revealed it was released without everyone present to vote on it. The council president also said he was not present when it was decided. The college’s Hillel brought in the 23-year-old to discuss his harrowing 505 days in the tunnels under Gaza at the hands of the terrorists after he was snatched during the October 7 massacre. He spoke at an event to mark Holocaust Remembrance Day on April 14 — which was attended by chancellor Julio Frenk — and was widely celebrated by the university’s Jewish students.

...[Undergraduate Student Association Council] president Diego Bollo told The Post he was not present at the meeting, and that the councilmember who introduced the letter did so on a day when a councilmember who had promoted Omer’s event was not present to share her perspective and knowledge of the event. Bollo also said the letter was passed by a “bare majority.”

“I acknowledge that this reflects a lapse in oversight on my part as President, and I take responsibility for that institutional shortcoming. To address this issue, I am initiating a review immediately of our internal processes for drafting and releasing public statements,” Bollo told The Post. “I deeply value free speech and free expression on our campus. I have worked throughout my term to ensure that the university supports all student groups in hosting speakers and a wide range of programming. Free speech is a principle I do not compromise on — regardless of the nature or subject of any given event,” he added. ...Talia Davood, who is Jewish and on the council, said: “What left me particularly speechless was the decision to bring this forward on the night of Yom HaShoah — a day dedicated to mourning the six million Jews murdered in the Holocaust... She added: “I want to recognize that not all officers present tonight were at the meeting last week. I also want to make it clear that my office condemns doxxing of any kind.” ...

...UCLA released a statement following the student body’s letter, saying: “The event’s message was one of resilience and respect for human rights and dignity — a message we support. “We stand by UCLA Hillel, UCLA Y&S Nazarian Center for Israel Studies and the UCLA chapter of Students Supporting Israel’s invitation to have this very important dialogue, which occurred on Yom HaShoah, Holocaust Remembrance Day. “We firmly stand against violence of any kind. Omer Shem Tov spoke with students and other members of the community with the chancellor and Dr. Felicia Knaul in attendance, and the event occurred without any disruption.

“We will review the process by which this letter was issued. The condemnation of such a peaceful event to share a story of resilience in the face of extreme suffering is antithetical to the values of our Bruin community.” ...

Jewish students make up an estimated 9% of UCLA’s undergraduate population, or roughly 3,100 to 4,000 students.

Full story at https://nypost.com/2026/04/22/us-news/ucla-students-protest-israeli-hostages-campus-visit/.

And there was one more letter yours truly found on the web:

Source: https://x.com/yashar/status/2047737036568969352.

Straws in the Wind - Part 324

From Inside Higher Ed: The Department of Education released its third and final set of regulations related to the One Big Beautiful Bill Act for public comment... This proposal fleshes out a new accountability metric designed to test the return on investment of each degree program at more than 4,000 colleges and universities. (The previous two—for which public comment has already closed—outlined new graduate student loan caps and an expansion of the Pell Grant for short-term job training programs.) If the regulations are finalized, undergraduate programs would be required to show that their average graduate earns more than a working adult with only a high school degree. The same would be true for graduate programs, but students’ earning would be compared to a bachelor’s degree holder.

Programs that fail the test for two out of three consecutive years would lose access to federal student loans, and in certain circumstances a program could eventually lose access to the Pell Grant as well...

Full story at https://www.insidehighered.com/news/quick-takes/2026/04/20/new-college-accountability-metric-published-public-comment.

Will Harvard Continue to Lead the Charge? - Part 150

From the Harvard Crimson: Members of the Harvard faculty subcommittee that drafted a proposal to cap A grades said Yale’s recent recommendation of a 3.0 mean GPA would cut deeper into student transcripts than Harvard’s own plan — even as they welcomed Yale’s entry into a debate that has so far unfolded largely in Cambridge.

The Yale Committee on Trust in Higher Education, in a report released April 10, urged Yale College to adopt “a 3.0 mean, or some other college-wide standard” to address grade inflation, alongside a new percentile-rank metric on transcripts. A Harvard committee proposed a different instrument: a 20 percent cap on A grades per course, with four additional As permitted, and no mandated distribution across other grades.

Government professor Alisha C. Holland, a member of the Harvard subcommittee, said the two proposals would land in very different places on student transcripts. “I would expect — especially in the short term, as instructors make adjustments – that the median grade at Harvard will be an A-minus,” Holland said. “That is far off from the mean of a 3.0 that Yale is recommending.” ...

Full story at https://www.thecrimson.com/article/2026/4/23/yale-report-harvard-reacts/.

The Regents are Coming to UCLA May 5-6, 2026 (Tuesday-Wednesday)

Agenda: May 5-6, 2026 - Luskin Conference Center, UCLA

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Tuesday, May 5, 2026

10:00 am Health Services Committee (open session- includes public comment session) 

Public Comment

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Upon end of open session:

Health Services Committee (closed session) 

H1(X) Discussion: Strategic Planning, UCLA Health: Future Alignments and Acquisitions

H2(X) Discussion: Litigation Update: Evolving Risk in Reimbursement

H3(X) Discussion: UC Health Litigation Update

H4(X) Discussion: UC Irvine Health Acquisition Integration and Risk Review

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Upon end of closed session:

Health Services Committee (open session) 

Action: Approval of the Minutes of the Meeting of March 17, 2026

H5 Discussion: Review of the UC Health Division 2025-28 Strategic Plan and Fiscal Year 2026-27 Budget

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1:00 pm Board (open session) 

Remarks of the Chair of the Board

Remarks of the President of the University

Remarks of the Chair of the Academic Senate

B1 Discussion: UC Inspires: Leveraging the Power of UC Alumni

B2 Discussion: UCLA Bruins NCAA Champion Women’s Basketball Team

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2:45 pm Governance Committee (closed session) 

Action: Approval of the Minutes of the Meeting of March 18, 2026

G1(X) Discussion: Collective Bargaining Matters

NOTE: A potential AFSCME strike is scheduled for May 14.

G2(X) Discussion: Appointment of and Compensation for Laboratory Director, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory

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Upon end of closed session:

Governance Committee (open session) 

Action: Approval of the Minutes of the Meeting of March 18, 2026

G2 Action: Approval of Appointment of and Compensation for Laboratory Director, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory as Discussed in Closed Session 

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3:45 pm Board (open session) 

Committee Report Including Approvals of Recommendations from Committees: Governance Committee

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4:00 pm Investments Committee (open session) 

Action: Approval of the Minutes of the Meeting of March 17, 2026

I1 Discussion: Review of Third Quarter 2025–26 Fiscal Year Performance for UC Retirement, Endowment, and Working Capital Assets

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Wednesday, May 6, 2026

8:30 am Board (open session - includes public comment session) 

Public Comment Period (30 minutes)

Approval of the Minutes of the Meetings of November 19, 2025 and March 17 and 18, 2026

Remarks from Student Associations

B3 Discussion: UC Research Landscape and Impact

B4 Discussion: Balancing Environmental and Financial Sustainability Considerations to Build Next-Generation University Energy Systems 

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10:15 am Board (closed session) 

B5(X) Discussion: External Funding Litigation and Legal Issues

NOTE: This item refers to the current UC/UCLA conflict with the federal government. Normally, a special committee of the Board deals with this conflict between full Regents sessions. This discussion, in contrast, is with the full Board.

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11:15 am Compliance and Audit Committee (closed session) 

C1(X) and C2(X) Review of various medical malpractice and other cases. Included is a pre-lawsuit case involving UCLA and a software/hardware company, Oracle America (and likely refers to the failed Ascend 2.0 matter), and what are referred to as "Remote" cases (which may refer to requests for tuition refunds due to the COVID pandemic). Also included are private and federal cases involving antisemitism, cases related to protests, and a case concerning UCLA's attempt to move out of the Rose Bowl.

C3(X) Information: Settlements and Separation Agreements under Delegated Authority Reported from February 1, 2026 to March 31, 2026

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12:15 pm Board (closed session) 

Action: Approval of the Minutes of the Meeting of March 17-18, 2026

Committee Reports Including Approval of Recommendations from Committees:

- Compliance and Audit Committee

- Governance Committee

- Health Services Committee

Officers’ and President’s Reports:

- Personnel Matters

- Report of Interim Actions

- Report of Materials Mailed Between Meetings

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1:30 pm Finance and Capital Strategies Committee (open session) 

Action: Approval of the Minutes of the Meeting of March 18, 2026

Consent Agenda:

- F1A Action: Consent Item: Fiscal Year 2026-27 Bond Issuances

- F1B Action: Consent Item: Advanced Work Phase of the Mission Bay Education Center and Dental Clinics, San Francisco Campus: Construction Funding, Scope, and Design Following an Exemption Determination Pursuant to the California Environmental Quality Act

- F1C Action: Consent Item: Adoption of Expenditure Rate for the General Endowment Pool

- F1D Action: Consent Item: Adoption of Endowment Administration Cost Recovery Rate 

F2 Action: Heller Student Housing South, Santa Cruz Campus: Budget, Scope, External Financing, and Design Following Consideration of an Addendum to the Student Housing West Environmental Impact Report Pursuant to the California Environmental Quality Act

F3 Action: Mission Bay Block 16A Building, San Francisco Campus: Budget and External Financing for UCSF’s Contribution to the Project, Scope, Design Following Consideration of an Addendum to the UCSF Long Range Development Plan Environmental Impact Report Pursuant to the California Environmental Quality Act, and Acceptance of Gift of Real Property

F4 Action: University of California Retirement Plan – Amendment to Previously Approved Action: Suspension of $550 Million Short Term Investment Pool Transfer In 2026–27 

F5 Action: Fiscal Year 2026-27 Budget for the University of California Office of the President 

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3:00 pm Academic and Student Affairs Committee (open session) 

Action: Approval of the Minutes of the Meeting of March 18, 2026

A1 Discussion: UC Center Sacramento and UC Washington Center: Cultivating Future Leaders for the State and Nation

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3:30 pm Public Engagement and Development Committee (open session) 

Action: Approval of the Minutes of the Meeting of January 20–21, 2026

P1 Discussion: State Governmental Relations Update 

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3:45 pm Board (open session) 

Committee Reports Including Approvals of Recommendations from Committees:

- Academic and Student Affairs Committee

- Finance and Capital Strategies Committee

- Health Services Committee

- Investments Committee

- Public Engagement and Development Committee

Resolutions

Officers’ and President’s Reports

Report of Materials Mailed Between Meetings

===

Source: https://regents.universityofcalifornia.edu/meetings/agendas/may26.html

Panunzio Awards

The 2025-2026 Constantine Panunzio Distinguished Emeriti Award honoring Emeriti Professors in the University of California system has been awarded to Professor Emerita of Anthropology Monique Bogerhoff Mulder (UC Davis) and Professor Emeritus of Agricultural and Resource Economics Alain de Janvry (UC Berkeley).

UC Emeriti Professors Borgerhoff Mulder and de Janvry are the fifty-sixth and fifty-seventh recipients of the Constantine Panunzio Award. Both awardees have especially long and notable records of research, teaching, and service to the University of California, their disciplines, and their communities. The late Dr. Panunzio, a Professor of Sociology at UCLA for many years, has been described as the architect of the UC Retirement System and was particularly active in improving pensions and stipends for his fellow Emeriti. The award bearing his name was established in 1983 and includes a $5,000 prize. The Panunzio Award exemplifies the tremendous contributions of Emeriti to the continued excellence of the UC System.

 

Monique Borgerhoff Mulder, UC Davis, Professor Emerita of Anthropology, retired in 2018. She has sustained an extraordinary level of scholarly productivity and leadership in the interdisciplinary fields of human behavioral ecology, conservation science, and sustainability studies. Her research continues to illuminate the intersections of poverty, inequality, and environmental conservation, particularly in East Africa, where she has conducted long-term collaborative fieldwork with pastoralist, fishing, and forest dependent communities. Professor Emerita Borgerhoff Mulder has secured multiple competitive research grants from the National Science Foundation, the UK Natural Environment Research Council, and the Global Challenges Research Fund. These awards, totaling several million dollars in research support, reflect the confidence of international funders in her methodological rigor and interdisciplinary vision. Elected to the National Academy of Sciences in 2021, she continues to shape global scientific discourse through invited lectures, international workshops, and leadership roles in organizations such as the Cultural Evolution Society and the Santa Fe Institute. Her work also has substantial impact beyond academia. Through organizations she co-founded and advises, such as Watu Simba na Mazingira (WASIMA) and the Ngezi‑Vumawimbi Heritage Organization, she has advanced community driven conservation efforts in Tanzania and Zanzibar, strengthening local governance and supporting sustainable livelihoods. Her editorial work has set field standards and amplifies emerging voices, broadening interdisciplinary dialogue, and accelerating community engaged research.

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Alain de Janvry, UC Berkeley, Professor Emeritus of Agricultural & Resource Economics, retired in 2017. Professor Emeritus de Janvry has sustained a field defining presence in development economics, agricultural policy, poverty alleviation, and the political economy of institutions. Through ongoing collaborations with scholars and international development organizations, he remains an influential voice in the global conversation on economic development, evidence-based policy, and risk management for vulnerable populations. Additionally, he has published landmark studies in the American Economic Review and AEJ: Applied Economics on bureaucratic incentives, disaster recovery, technology diffusion, and insurance adoption. His service on scientific councils has anchored rigorous, policy relevant editorial curation and broadened access for applied research communities worldwide. Professor Emeritus de Janvry’s field experiments on subjective performance evaluations in China, index-based disaster funds in Mexico, and the diffusion of climate resilient rice varieties in India exemplify his rigorous empirical approach. He has shaped research agendas through major monographs on disaster risk finance, and impact evaluation methodologies. His experimental and quasi experimental studies, ranging from randomized farmer training interventions to regression discontinuity analyses of disaster funding, have directly influenced program designs across governments and NGOs. He remains a dedicated mentor, advising graduate students, junior faculty, as well as practitioners, and continues to advance the use of evidence in policy design and implementation.

Straws in the Wind - Part 323

From the Daily Californian: The number of computer science graduates at UC Berkeley is expected to decrease to 851 for the 2025-26 academic year, down from 1,029 graduates in 2024-25. According to electrical engineering and computer sciences chair Jelani Nelson, as of late March, the CS department is slated to graduate approximately 350 students in 2027. These figures represent a 59% decrease in CS enrollment from the 2025-26 to 2026-27 school years. The decline in campus computer science graduates mirrors a trend across the UC system, with CS major enrollment across the university decreasing in 2025 for the first time since the early 2000s. It also contributes to a larger nationwide decline in CS majors, with an 8.1% drop at four-year colleges in fall 2025.

...Since the release of ChatGPT in 2022, employment for computer science and math majors aged 22 to 27 has fallen by 8%. However, campus spokesperson Janet Gilmore noted that student interest in CS-related majors is “still strong” despite the rise of AI. Gilmore cited rising instructional costs, campus budget constraints and faculty availability as contributing factors in the reduction in enrollment.

...In an X post, [Electrical engineering and computer sciences chair Jelani] Nelson identified the high cost of instruction as the primary cause of campus’s decision to reduce CS major enrollment. Undergraduate teaching assistants now cost the department between $71.95 and $80.51 per hour. Since winning a grievance in January 2020, campus EECS and data science undergraduate TAs receive proportional tuition waivers depending on how many hours they work. According to Nelson’s post, this change significantly increased department costs, which led campus to reduce undergraduate CS enrollment and decrease the number of undergraduate TAs...

Full story at https://www.dailycal.org/news/campus/academics/uc-berkeley-cs-major-enrollment-on-pace-to-drop-by-59-as-part-of-nationwide/article_8ceded3c-d939-4f60-8aa4-110be003c4e3.html.

Will Harvard Continue to Lead the Charge? - Part 149

From the Harvard Crimson: A Harvard Medical School working group on open inquiry found that students and faculty frequently self-censor on controversial topics and recommended a series of changes to strengthen classroom and laboratory discourse, according to a report released Tuesday. The 16-member group, chaired by former HMS Dean Jeffrey S. Flier, called on the school to host regular public forums modeling debate on controversial issues, expand a recently adopted non-attribution rule for classroom discussions, and develop explicit guidelines on the boundaries of student and faculty activism in clinical settings.

...The institution’s push to examine open inquiry followed sustained pressure from the White House last spring to curtail diversity, equity, and inclusion programming and what the administration called left-leaning political bias in higher education. But Flier said in an interview before the report’s release that the effort was driven by concerns internal to HMS, not federal pressure. “There was an obvious need for internal reform, unrelated to the Trump administration,” Flier said. “Some people will look at some of the things that are recommended and say, isn’t that something similar to what is being demanded? Maybe that’s true in a few instances, but that just is not a reason to deny the issues that we take up.”

...Anonymous feedback indicated that students struggled to “disagree respectfully and understand other perspectives” and often hesitated to share views on controversial topics. Faculty reported similar reluctance, citing fear of offending colleagues or facing backlash. Flier described the findings as “major issues” for the school. Self-censorship was especially pronounced in required courses on medical ethics, health care policy, and social medicine — topics the report described as “politically and socially charged.” Some students felt those courses presented contested topics without sufficient viewpoint diversity, while others felt there was too much.

...Recommendations include articulating informal “social compacts” to guide classroom and laboratory interactions and establishing awards recognizing affiliates who advance open inquiry. Some of the working group’s recommendations are already underway at HMS. The school updated application essay prompts for its M.D. and master’s programs in late 2025 to place greater emphasis on applicants’ ability to engage across difference, and it has partnered with the outside organizations to train faculty, staff, and student leaders...

Full story at https://www.thecrimson.com/article/2026/4/22/hms-open-inquiry-findings/.