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Tuesday, April 30, 2024

Who is "we"?

The BruinAlert system was designed to notify folks of emergency situations on campus such as fires, earthquakes, or other incidents. For example, here is a BruinAlert notification from August 9th of last year:

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BruinALERT: AVOID THE AREA of SCHOENBERG. Emergency crews are On Scene. Expect traffic delays, consider alternate routes, and allow for additional travel time. Follow the direction of public safety personnel.  

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In the last few days, absent any statements by the chancellor (or anyone in Murphy Hall), the BruinAlert system seems to have become a system of dissemination of policy and emotion as well as news of the day. Here, for example, is yesterday's alert:

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BruinALERT: UCLA has a long history of peaceful protest and we are heartbroken to report that yesterday, some physical altercations broke out among demonstrators on Royce Quad.

We have since instituted additional security measures and increased the numbers of our safety team members on site, including our uniformed Student Affairs Mitigators (SAMs), Public Safety Aides (PSAs), CSC and campus security.

As an institution of higher education, we stand firmly for the idea that even when we disagree, we must still engage respectfully and recognize one another’s humanity. We are dismayed that yesterday certain individuals instead chose to jeopardize the physical safety of the community.

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It is not clear who is "we" in this message, but it has aspects of the Royal We. Wouldn't it be better if the chancellor just issued statements directly?

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