Infrequently Asked Questions

At the special Legislative Assembly meeting scheduled for later today, the agenda* contains various documents which raise questions about consultation with the Senate on various matters including the campus budget.

Here are some budget-related issues yours truly hopes will be raised. 

UCLA spent $80 million to buy the campus of a defunct Catholic college on Palos Verdes, ostensibly to deal with enrollment pressures. But Palos Verdes is far from Westwood and is difficult to access by public transportation. It is also subject to well-publicized ground instability not far from the UCLA purchase. What kind of consultation with the Senate occurred before this expenditure? What is the cost of maintaining the site while someone figures out what uses it might serve? 

UCLA purchased the Westside Pavilion for a research facility at a cost of $700 million. Is the projected revenue to support this site in any way jeopardized by the conflict with federal authorities over research funding? If there is some jeopardy, what are the budget contingency plans? Was the Senate consulted about the original purchase or the contingency plans?

UCLA has made various hospital purchases in recent times. Are these purchases in any way jeopardized by the current conflict with federal authorities? Might Medicare or Medi-Cal (Medicaid) funding be affected by the conflict? If so, what contingent budget plans are being made? Was the Senate consulted about the purchases or the contingency plans?

UCLA athletics is being affected by the national evolution of college sports to a more professional commercial model, thanks in part to court decisions related to payments to student athletes. UCLA recently changed athletic conferences, angering the governor, provoking Regental actions, and leading to a de facto tax on UCLA being paid to UC-Berkeley. Is the Senate being consulted about potential pressures on the campus budget related to these developments? Is the Senate involved in contingency planning should projected revenues from college sports fall short of estimates?

UCLA produces annual budget figures and reports having an annual budget of around $11 billion. But the latest published annual budget report on the web covers fiscal year 2022-23. We are now in 2025-26. Planning for 2026-27 surely will begin soon. Does the Senate have access to up-to-date budget data so that it can offer its views on fiscal matters on a timely basis?

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These questions get into sensitive areas. As this excerpt from a Sept. 8th letter from EVC Hunt contained in the agenda suggests, the administration may prefer not to answer: [underline added] 

Agenda at https://dms.senate.ucla.edu/~councils.and.committees/?LgA.meetings.

Straws in the Wind - Part 116

From Inside Higher Ed: The Kentucky Council on Postsecondary Education agreed to terminate its offering of in-state tuition to undocumented students, according to a settlement filed in court Monday, WKU Public Radio reported. The termination of reduced tuition remains tentative, as the settlement has yet to be signed by a district court judge, but if it does come to fruition, Kentucky would be the third state to capitulate to demands of the Trump administration on the issue. President Trump’s Department of Justice has sued multiple states over their policies that provide in-state tuition to undocumented students, arguing that doing so discriminates against out-of-state Americans. Republican-led states that were sued quickly agreed to scrap the policies. But Kentucky, governed by a Democrat, took longer. (Similar lawsuits against Minnesota and Illinois are still pending.)

The state attorney general, a Republican, told the council that the lawsuit would be a “losing fight,” WKU reported...

Full story at https://www.insidehighered.com/news/quick-takes/2025/09/25/kentucky-end-state-tuition-undocumented-students.

Information Please

From the San Diego Union-Tribune: UC San Diego faculty are voicing concerns about students’ and employees’ personal information potentially being shared with the federal government for a civil rights investigation, raising concerns on campus that those people could end up being targeted by the Trump administration. Neither UCSD nor the University of California would say whether San Diego students and staff were affected, and if so how many, what information about them was shared or when their information may have been shared. UCSD declined to comment, deferring instead to the UC Office of the President...

UC has said it is required to comply with federal agencies’ information requests related to investigations, compliance reviews and audits... UCSD and other campuses are also required to provide information about certain students and employees as part of a resolution agreement the UC struck with the federal government in December. The UC made a deal with the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights to address complaints against five UC campuses — San Diego, Los Angeles, Santa Cruz, Davis and Santa Barbara — about discrimination based on actual or perceived ancestry, including Jewish, Israeli, Palestinian, Arab and Muslim ancestry... UC is required by Sept. 30 to provide the federal office a spreadsheet of all complaints alleging discrimination at the five campuses, including the names of complainants, of individuals who allegedly committed the discrimination and of witnesses.

The UC also agreed to provide, upon request by the civil rights office, copies of entire investigative files for complaints, which can include student or employee disciplinary records and personnel files... 

Full story at https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/2025/09/26/uc-san-diego-student-employee-information-was-shared-with-trump-administration-for-investigation/.

More Addendum

The agenda for the upcoming meeting of the Legislative Assembly contains the item below. A reminder that the meeting has been relocated to the California NanoSystems Institute (CNSI) Auditorium. 

Senate members, whether members of the Legislative Assembly or not, should have received a notice of the meeting with a link to indicate attendance. Any Senate member can attend; only those who are members of the Legislative Assembly can vote.

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August 28, 2025

Darnell Hunt

Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost (EVCP), UCLA

Re: 2024-25 State of Shared Governance at UCLA

Dear EVCP Hunt,

I’m writing to summarize the state of shared governance at UCLA during the 2024-25 academic year. There were some areas of progress, particularly regarding communication protocols about instructional modality during emergencies and the very recent inclusion of the Senate Chair as a permanent member of the Chancellor’s Cabinet. But these gains were overshadowed by the magnitude of deficiencies regarding proactive consultation with the Senate on this year’s budget, and the troubling trend of excluding the Senate from critical early stages of decision-making.

Shared governance is mandated by the University of California in Regents Bylaw 40.1 which “recognize[s] that faculty participation in the shared governance of the University through the agency of the Academic Senate ensures the quality of instruction, research and public service at the University and protects academic freedom” (UC Regents Bylaw 40.1). The Regents have delegated authority over admissions, degrees, courses, and educational policy to the Academic Senate, and formally empowered the Senate to create “committees to advise the President and Chancellors on campus and University budgets.”

Shared governance helps the Administration make better informed decisions, decisions that take into account the expertise and experiences of the Senate Faculty who carry out the university’s academic mission. We have repeatedly seen the deleterious consequences of decisions made without Senate consultation: the ASE contract negotiations, Ascend, various real estate purchases, and the graduate funding crisis.

Budget. There was no meaningful Senate consultation on the 2025-26 budget. The Council on Planning and Budget (CPB) received no data or other written materials from the Chief Financial Officer (CFO) about the budget situation, and was unable to fulfill its duty to “specifically review and formally articulate a Senate view regarding the campus budget and each major campus space-use and building project at each project's proposal, planning, and building stages.” (Divisional Bylaw 65.3.C) We appreciate your promise that the CFO will work with CPB in accordance with this bylaw in the 2025-26 academic year. A repeat of this year’s failure by Administration to provide data and solicit substantive Senate advice on the budget will damage not only the level of trust between Administration and Faculty, but also the likelihood of buy-in and support for any additional budgetary measures that may be needed.

Workgroups without Senate Representation. In the absence of consultation with CPB, strategic decisions regarding the budget and deficit reduction were made by an unofficial, behind-the-scenes administrative workgroup from which the Senate was excluded, despite repeated requests by Senate leadership. Similarly, campus strategy with regard to the future of graduate education was developed by an administrative workgroup. Here, too the Senate was excluded despite repeated requests. A letter on this subject from the Senate Chair went unanswered.

Senate consultation must not be shirked. The above concern about excluding the Senate is greatly mitigated when there is meaningful subsequent Senate consultation, that is, when the administration provides a written proposal so that Senate committees with appropriate expertise can read, discuss and provide feedback. Including Senate leadership on workgroups is an acceptable substitute only in rare cases of issues that are truly too urgent or too sensitive for full consultation. For example, including the Senate Vice Chair/Chair Elect on the Federal Actions Advisory Committee is a reasonable case where this is appropriate. But issues like the campus budget and graduate education funding are long-standing issues that warrant full consultation.

As you know, the Senate has become more agile in providing formal advice: through additional meetings, independent review, and subcommittees, Senate committees have responded quickly when warranted. We will continue to do so. Indeed, the Senate has repeatedly found ways to quickly respond to "time-sensitive" and “emergency” situations only to find that the Administration fails to act promptly (e.g., Data X, Research Park, graduate funding implementation). Invoking time sensitivity to avoid formal consultation damages trust and credibility when the alleged urgency repeatedly proves false.

To underscore the main point: Meeting with Senate leadership and/or Senate committee chairs is not a substitute for Senate consultation. Nor is including Senate leaders on administrative workgroups. Administrators must not conflate conversations with individuals in Senate leadership positions and consulting with the Senate as an institution. This has occurred repeatedly, particularly in areas under the responsibility of the Administrative Vice Chancellor, leading to overall degradation of trust.

Instructional Modality during Emergencies. The administration does not have the authority to mandate remote instruction during emergencies. Only the Senate can make this decision. This authority was breached during the Spring of 2024, when a small (but serious) protest in one building led to a weeklong imposition of remote learning. Campus was open for all activities except instruction. This was a low moment for shared governance, and a clear instance of administrative convenience being prioritized over the academic mission. To avoid further such instances, the Senate developed a protocol for rapid decision-making regarding instructional modality during crises. The protocol was unfortunately not followed by Administration during the early weeks of January’s fire emergency. At the Senate’s insistence, the administration began following the protocol toward the end of the fire emergency, and the Senate demonstrated its ability to deliver clear and appropriate decisions about instructional modality when it receives accurate and timely information about emergency conditions. 

Since that time, the Associate Vice Chancellor for Campus and Community Safety (AVCCCS) and the Assistant Provost and Chief of Staff to the EVCP have worked in partnership with the Senate to hone the protocol to ensure that campus is kept safe and that emergency decisions appropriately consider the academic. Good faith leadership by the AVCCCS in engaging with the Senate and following up give us reason to believe that genuine progress has been made in this area.

Moving Forward. The absence of consultation and lack of transparency regarding the budget is stoking toxic divisions among Faculty at a time when unity in the face of outside threats is essential.

Going forward, we ask the following:

1. The CFO will follow historic and systemwide norms in engaging with CPB: he will attend all meetings or send the AVC for Academic Planning and Budget in his place. CPB will receive written information on the state of the budget at the beginning of the academic year and throughout, with sufficient detail to allow it to offer meaningful input well before the finalization of the budget.

2. Administration will respect Senate authority over instruction and follow the protocol for changes in campus operating status.

3. The Senate will be included in groups convened for emergency planning from the outset, regardless of the nature of the emergency (physical threats to safety, federal activity, etc.) whenever there is potential impact on research and teaching.

4. All proposals that may affect the academic mission, even indirectly, will be formally reviewed by the Senate before implementation following our consultation process. This process includes space usage, IT and Goal V planning.

Senate leadership is accountable to the Senate Faculty as a whole. Across campus, Faculty are asking questions about the budget process, and about the state of shared governance at UCLA. These questions deserve answers. Toward this end, and in keeping with the Senate’s ongoing commitment to transparency, we will post this letter on the Senate website. We hope to receive a reply from you that we can post as well. In response to Faculty concerns, the Senate intends to incorporate more frequent reports about the state of shared governance in Senate communication going forward.

We are happy to continue working to find ways to make Senate consultation more efficient and effective. We approach our role in shared governance with a spirit of good faith engagement and commitment to the academic mission. We hope for substantive, consistent, and strong shared governance in the 2025-26 academic year at UCLA, a time when our unity is so important.

Sincerely,

Kathy Bawn

2024-25 Chair, UCLA Academic Senate

cc: Julio Frenk, Chancellor, UCLA; Tim Groeling, 2025-26 Vice Chair/Chair Elect, UCLA Academic Senate; Andrea Kasko, 2024-25 Immediate Past Chair, UCLA Academic Senate; Megan McEvoy, 2025-26 Chair, UCLA Academic Senate

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Source: https://dms.senate.ucla.edu/~councils.and.committees/?LgA.meetings.

Straws in the Wind - Part 115

From the Daily Pennsylvanian: Students in the Wharton School’s Executive Master of Business Administration program have raised concerns about course quality, rising costs, and the use of artificial intelligence within grading practices. The concerns — first reported by Poets&Quants — were shared during a virtual town hall event for Executive MBA students. Several speakers at the meeting alleged that the repetitive or unclear feedback they received on written assignments was indicative of the use of automated grading systems. Students in the program are required to disclose when they use AI tools on assignments, but they said similar requirements do not appear to apply to faculty. Speakers at the town hall also noted that when they asked instructors about deducted points, their grades were adjusted without explanation.

In response to a request for comment, a Wharton spokesperson described the school’s disappointment “that comments from a closed Town Hall were shared publicly.” ...The spokesperson added that Wharton has taken “steps to protect the confidentiality of internal meetings and discussions.” ...

Full story at https://www.thedp.com/article/2025/09/penn-wharton-executive-mba-ai-concerns.

Will Harvard Continue to Lead the Charge? - Part 67

From the Harvard Crimson: Harvard School of Public Health Dean Andrea A. Baccarelli received at least $150,000 to testify against Tylenol’s manufacturer in 2023 — two years before he published research used by the Trump administration to link the drug to autism, a connection experts say is tenuous at best. Baccarelli served as an expert witness on behalf of parents and guardians of children suing Johnson & Johnson, the manufacturer of Tylenol at the time. U.S. District Court Judge Denise L. Cote dismissed the case last year due to a lack of scientific evidence, throwing out Baccarelli’s testimony in the process.

“He cherry-picked and misrepresented study results and refused to acknowledge the role of genetics in the etiology” of autism spectrum disorder or ADHD, Cote wrote in her decision, which the plaintiffs have since appealed...

Full story at https://www.thecrimson.com/article/2025/9/24/autism-dean-public-health/.

Things are looking up - for now

Jason Sisney of the Legislative Analyst's Office notes the unexpected inflow of income tax revenue into the state treasury - likely due to AI-related stock market gains:

From a Sept. 24 email to his subscribers: 

August Revenues Up $1.7 Billion from Budget Projections. California’s General Fund revenue collections in August 2025 outpaced budget projections for the month by $1.7 billion (13%), according to data released by the state’s Department of Finance. Gains in personal income tax (PIT) withholding (likely “due to stock-based compensation,” according to Finance) made up more than half of this monthly gain. Corporation tax refunds and payments also were nearly $300 million above the monthly projection. Federal cost recoveries related to disasters in prior years also have been coming in better than projected.

Waiting for Los Angeles County Tax Payments Next Month.

The coming weeks will be important for revenue tracking due to the federal government’s decision to delay this year’s income tax deadlines to October 15 for all of Los Angeles County due to the January wildfires in parts of that jurisdiction.

AI Bubble Driving Big State Revenue Gains.

Recently, California’s Legislative’s Analyst Office (LAO) has noted the strong trend in PIT withholding, stating in one report that higher state “income tax collections are being driven higher by enthusiasm around artificial intelligence (AI), which has pushed the stock market to record highs and boosted compensation” of California’s tech industry workers. The LAO adds that the “rest of the economy appears fragile.” The apparent AI bubble led LAO in one recent report to project that General Fund revenues—principally PIT revenues—would exceed previous budget forecasts by more than $20 billion across the three fiscal years 2024-25, 2025-26, and 2026-27.

Short-Term Revenue Gains May Help Moderate Big Budget Deficits Ahead. 

These short-term revenue gains, a large part of which will be directed to reserves and TK-12 schools under the State Constitution, may moderate large projected General Fund deficits in the coming few years...

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Some of us remember the dot-com boom when state revenues surged - until they didn't:

Or direct to https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e7xiIzcYRpA.

Will Harvard Continue to Lead the Charge? - Part 66

From Inside Higher Ed: The Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights said Friday that it issued a letter giving Harvard University 20 days [from Sept. 23] to submit documents related to admissions that it says the university has been refusing to provide. Those documents are related to an investigation OCR opened in May regarding whether Harvard is “using racial stereotypes and preferences in undergraduate admissions,” according to the announcement...

The notice came the same day that the department announced it had placed the Ivy League institution on heightened cash monitoring status, which gives the government greater oversight of institutional finances. The designation is usually reserved for institutions in financial turmoil...

Full story at https://www.insidehighered.com/news/quick-takes/2025/09/23/ed-gives-harvard-20-days-provide-admissions-info.

Straws in the Wind - Part 114

From Inside Higher Ed: Carnegie Mellon University is tapping its strengths in computer and data science to reframe one of its humanities doctoral programs in hopes of preparing graduates to navigate an increasingly tough job market. Starting next fall, the English department at the Pittsburgh-based institution will offer a Ph.D. in computational cultural studies, which it says is the first program of its kind in the country. The program will replace the traditional literary and cultural studies program and will train students to use computational methodologies to produce historical, theoretical and cultural scholarship...

Students in the program will still take standard literature and cultural studies courses, but they’ll also be required to take two computation-focused courses—one in the English Department and one from an outside department—and complete a series of projects guided by computational experts...

But that doesn’t mean the English Department is abandoning the current program’s core focus on literature and culture. “There’s a common misconception that this is pushing us to sell out to computational studies, but it’s not,” Richard Scheines, dean of CMU’s College of Humanities and Social Sciences, said. “It’s just seeing if there’s interesting tools that we can apply to some of the questions humanists are asking, but get much more robust answers from the data than we’ve had before.” ...

Over the past decade, humanities enrollments have declined, more and more tenure-track professors have been replaced by adjuncts, and budget cuts have forced many programs across the country to downsize or close altogether. In 2023, West Virginia University eliminated numerous faculty positions and humanities programs, including all of its foreign language degree programs. In 2024, Boston University suspended admissions to its humanities and social sciences doctoral programs. And last month, the University of Chicago paused new Ph.D. student admissions for the 2026–27 academic year across all arts and humanities departments except for philosophy and one program in the music department...

Full story at https://www.insidehighered.com/news/tech-innovation/teaching-learning/2025/09/24/how-one-university-reimagining-humanities-phd.

Addendum and Relocation

Yesterday, we noted that a special meeting of the UCLA Legislative Assembly would be taking place on Tuesday, Sept. 30, 2-4 PM. THE LOCATION HAS BEEN CHANGED. THE MEETING IS NOW TO BE HELD IN THE California NanoSystems Institute (CNSI) Auditorium. Included on the agenda of that meeting is the informational item below:

Berkeley Divisional Council Statement on the Release of Individualized Incident Data

The Berkeley Division of the Academic Senate was deeply troubled to learn about the recent release of incident reports containing individualized data from UC Berkeley’s OPHD [Office for the Prevention of Harassment and Discrimination] and UCPD to the Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights. Sharing such information violates privacy and procedural fairness. Such actions should presumptively meet a very high burden of justification. We commend our campus leaders’ efforts to uphold this expectation and their decision to notify individuals whose names were divulged through this action.

We would also like to highlight a particular concern we have about the implications of this data release for academic freedom. The principles expressed in APM-010 protect the ability of instructors to address topics in the classroom in accordance with their scholarly and pedagogical judgment, free from administrative or political pressure or interference. This freedom is not absolute, of course, and it does not grant instructors license to misuse the classroom for partisan or ideological purposes, as Regent’s Policy 2301 explains. Nor does it protect discrimination and targeted harassment in the classroom on the basis of race, color, or national origin, which is prohibited under Title VI of the 1964 Civil Rights Act. 

Further, we note that classroom instruction is framed within the context of Berkeley’s guiding principles of community.

Complaints about classroom speech that allegedly violates university policies and federal laws need to be taken seriously, but also handled with discretion and care. There should be a presumption that students may be exposed to a wide range of challenging ideas in the classroom that are germane to the subject matter of a course, including relevant matters of contemporary controversy. As such, determining when classroom speech counts as a violation of Regent’s Policy 2301 or Title VI involves academic judgment and the Berkeley Division is working closely with the EVCP to develop standard procedures for consultation with Senate faculty when complaints about classroom speech are referred to university officials, including OPHD.

Against this background, we were alarmed to learn that the data released to the Department of Education likely included individualized, personally identifiable information about complaints referred to OPHD regarding classroom speech. Taken out of context, information about isolated complaints can easily be misused to create a misleading impression about the classroom activities of Berkeley instructors. This contributes to an environment that could chill the free exchange of academic ideas in the classroom, create a closed or exclusionary classroom climate, and potentially unfairly target instructors for the exercise of their academic rights.

The Berkeley Division calls on the University to make the following commitments:

● Based on the need to protect the academic freedom that is essential to a healthy culture of scholarship and learning, requests from the federal government for release of individualized (non aggregated) information about complaints regarding classroom speech should only be approved when external legal demands make such a release an unavoidable necessity. Further, the Academic Senate should be consulted when such requests are received, and if they are deemed unwarranted, the university should exhaust all legal remedies before releasing the requested data.

● The same concern to protect academic freedom should lead the university to deny future requests for individual student evaluations for courses taken at Berkeley, should they be received.

● Individual instructors who have been named in the OPHD data that has already been released to the DOE should receive all due support from the university as they attempt to deal with the personal, professional, and legal consequences attributable to this release.

Additionally, the Berkeley Division urges the systemwide Academic Senate to take up these issues with UCOP in order to protect the privacy and academic freedom of university instructors on all UC campuses.

Finally, at the campus level, the Berkeley Division urges campus leadership to affirm the University’s commitment to the privacy of its faculty, staff, and students, to assess the risks that the accumulation of institutional data poses to that privacy, and to consider, proactively, what policies and practices might be adopted to affirm individual privacy as both a constituent element of academic freedom and an assumption that should be afforded to all members of the University.

---

Approved by the Divisional Council (DIVCO), with the collaboration of the Chair of the Committee on Academic Freedom (ACFR) 9/11/2025. 

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The full agenda, including the item above, is available at https://dms.senate.ucla.edu/~councils.and.committees/?LgA.meetings.

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Note: Presumably, there was some legal review at Berkeley before the information referred to in the resolution was turned over. It would have been useful if some discussion of the legalities had been included along with the resolution.

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Will Harvard Continue to Lead the Charge? - Part 65

From the Harvard Crimson: Harvard Business School won’t say what happened to its $25 million Racial Equity Action Plan after the plan was apparently shuttered as Harvard backs away from the language of race and diversity. The plan was established in 2020 following years of complaints about a lack of diversity at the Business School, where Black students were underrepresented in classrooms and featured in only 5 percent of the case studies used in HBS classes. But five years later, as the Trump administration targets diversity programming and Harvard removes mentions of race from its offices and public materials, HBS has indicated that the Racial Equity Action Plan was discontinued and taken down the plan’s website.

In an interview published in August by the Business School’s press office, HBS Chief Community and Culture Officer Terrill L. Drake gave few specifics when asked about the plan’s future. “We will continue to incorporate the intention behind the plan in our efforts. But our aspiration has always been bigger,” Drake said.

“Any initiative that’s designed only for one group inevitably leads others to ask about how the School can recognize and support them,” he added. “We want to maintain the true spirit of the Racial Equity Action Plan, but also broaden it so that everyone across the community sees how the OCC supports who they are and what they bring to the School.”

The action plan’s website now redirects to the homepage of the Office of Community and Culture, which itself was renamed from the Office of Diversity Equity and Inclusion in August...

Full story at https://www.thecrimson.com/article/2025/9/23/hbs-racial-equity-plan-shuttered/.

Progress

Uh oh! Someone in Alberta, Canada (area code 825) is after me to make progress. I did look up the symbol ~^~. Google tells me it doesn't mean anything. So that's progress.

That Was Then And This Is Now (Or Soon To Be Now)

Chancellor Frenk was interviewed yesterday by Larry Mantle, the radio host from KPCC/LAist, ostensibly on the subject of the crisis facing higher education, as part of a weekly webinar series titled "America at a Crossroads." Although Chancellor Frenk may have been expecting questions regarding all of higher ed to be the main focus, in fact, 99% of the questioning dealt with UCLA and UC. There is a link to the audio below. (I have edited out about 5+ minutes of introduction and a short preview at the end of forthcoming webinars.) The entire program will eventually be placed on YouTube by the program's sponsoring organization.

Some highlights based on notes from yours truly follow - again you can listen to the entire interview at the link below.

A general theme was that-was-then-and-this-now (or about to be now when a task force on antisemitism headed by Prof. Stuart Gabriel issues its report). The name Gene Block was never mentioned. But Frenk indicated that, going forward, rules about time-place-manner would be strictly enforced and there would be no more encampments. He referenced the ban he imposed on Students for Justice in Palestine after its actions at the home of a local Regent (Sures). 

Academic freedom and free speech is only possible absent intimidation and violence was another theme of Frenk's. The campus is or will be stressing dialogue among difference. (As blog readers will know, however, we have not seen much of that kind of dialogue programming so far.) Frenk referred to his personal background and that of his wife, escaping from Nazi Germany to Mexico and losing family members in the Holocaust.

Another theme was that antisemitism eventually spreads into other hateful activity and corrupts universities. Frenk referenced German universities that were heavily represented among the top institutions in the 1920s, but - after the Nazi period - have never recovered that ranking. In response to a question about Muslim students on campus, he returned to the theme that antisemitism unchecked spreads into other forms of bigotry. The issue of defining antisemitism with regard to protests against Israel (anti-Zionism) came up as well as the so-called IHRA definition (that was part of the Columbia settlement with the feds).* Frenk gave a definition that sounded somewhat like IHRA without that label.

Mantle referred to the 28-page letter from the feds that was leaked to the LA Times. He didn't directly ask if Frenk would release it. But it was noted that the letter dealt with a variety of issues beyond antisemitism. Frenk said UCLA hospitals were no longer providing trans surgery or other treatments for minors although he seemed to say that those minors already receiving treatment would continue to receive it. With regard to trans athletes in women's sports, he said that UCLA was bound by NCAA rules which banned it so it wasn't an issue. (The article in the LA Times seemed to indicate that the letter included a demand that UCLA itself have such a ban.) 

With regard to admissions and hiring, Frenk noted that UCLA already was subject to the state ban on affirmative action under Proposition 209 but had examined its practices to ensure compliance with federal law and the more recent US Supreme Court decision. Generally, Frenk said, UCLA had to comply with state and federal law. Those opposed to particular laws could work to change them by voting, etc. Faculty had academic freedom but were not free in the class to impose personal political agendas.

The interview confirmed that Chancellor Frenk is not directly involved in whatever negotiations - he referred to them as "discussions" - are going on with the feds at the UC and Regents levels.

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Link to audio of the interview:

https://ia601406.us.archive.org/35/items/a-laugh-a-tear-a-mitzvah/Julio%20Frenk-Larry%20Mantle%209-25-2025.mp4

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*IHRA = International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance: https://holocaustremembrance.com/resources/working-definition-antisemitism.

Whereas

The UCLA Legislative Assembly will have a special meeting on Sept. 30 with the item below to be considered as part of the agenda:

September 2025

Resolution to Request the Department of Justice Letter

“Whereas, on August 8, 2025, University of California President James B. Milliken reported receiving a document from the Department of Justice, asking for a $1 billion settlement from UCLA.

Whereas, several newspapers and other media outlets, including The Los Angeles Times, reported that the Trump administration’s settlement proposal – a 28-page letter – demands sweeping changes to “drastically overhaul campus practices on hiring, admissions, sports, scholarships, discrimination and gender identity.”

Whereas, EVCP Darnell Hunt confirmed in a town hall held on August 14 by UCLA administration and the Academic Senate that he has read the demand letter but was instructed not to share it with the faculty or with UCLA Senate leadership. Academic Senate Chair Megan McEvoy informed the faculty on September 19, 2025, that she has no information about if or when the letter will be released to the campus community.

Be it resolved that, in recognition of shared governance and the potential impact of the University of California’s response to the demand letter on our campus and our mission, the Legislative Assembly of the UCLA Division of the Academic Senate asks the University of California Office of the President that the Department of Justice letter should be shared with UCLA Academic Senate leadership and faculty.”

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Note: Yours truly would have added one more "Whereas":

Whereas, it is likely that the source of the leak to the LA Times came either from UCLA or UC.

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Any Academic Senate members can attend the meeting although only members of the Legislative Assembly can vote.

Tuesday, Sept. 30, 2-4 PM

Covel Commons: Grand Horizon Ballroom.

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The full agenda is available at https://dms.senate.ucla.edu/~councils.and.committees/?LgA.meetings.

Will Harvard Continue to Lead the Charge? - Part 64 (and UC?)

From the Harvard Crimson: Harvard could soon be forced to pay a $100,000 fee for every new worker the University sponsors through the H-1B visa program, part of an executive proclamation signed by President Donald Trump [last] Friday. Between 2017 and 2024, Harvard sponsored an average of 125 new H-1B visa petitions that were approved each year, according to data from the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. While Trump’s order only applies to new H-1B visa requests, the fee could place a significant financial burden on Harvard if it continues to sponsor a similar number of new H-1B visa applicants. If Harvard continues to sponsor more than 100 new H-1B visa applicants each year, the University will annually pay more than $10 million in fees.

A University spokesperson declined to comment on whether Harvard plans to change how many new H-1B visa applications it sponsors as a result of the $100,000 fee. Trump’s order is also expected to face significant legal challenge. H-1B visas, which allow workers in specialty occupations to temporarily stay in the country, are used by companies to hire around 730,000 employees across the country, according to immigration advocacy group fwd.us. At universities, faculty members, postdoctoral fellows, and researchers can qualify for H-1B visas...

Full story at https://www.thecrimson.com/article/2025/9/22/harvard-h1b-visa-costs/.

Note that the H-1B fee - even if it is confined to new applicants - raises the same issues for UC as it does for Harvard.

There's a reason...

...that Gmail labels this message as spam and puts a warning on it.

Straws in the Wind - Part 113

From Yahoo News: In August, Duke University abruptly shut down its Biosciences Collaborative for Research Engagement (BioCoRE) program. According to The Duke Chronicle, the program, launched in 2013, supported graduate students in the School of Medicine with career development and guidance through their doctoral studies. The University also closed its Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, Advancement, and Leadership in the Sciences (IDEALS) office, which funded BioCoRE and similar diversity-focused programs. Per the student-run media organization, both closures came without warning, leaving students, faculty, and even program staff shocked and scrambling for answers. “There was very little consultation with anyone within the program or affiliated with the program,” said former BioCoRE Program Director Jennifer Ocasio, per The Chronicle...

Ocasio learned of the program’s closure in a meeting with her supervisor and Johnna Frierson, former IDEALS director and associate dean for research engagement... In an email to The Chronicle on Thursday, Sept. 11, 2025, Duke University health officials cited “a significantly reduced financial reality” as the driving force behind the closures and expressed gratitude for the contributions of the BioCoRE and IDEALS teams...

BioCoRE, which has 109 alums, offered a range of support for students, including speaker events, a $1,500 first-year stipend, a $1,500 professional development fund for second years, and a two-week orientation program called Early Start to help new doctoral students adjust to Duke and Durham, NC. While open to all, many perceived the program as advancing diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives...

Full story at https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/duke-university-school-medicine-abruptly-185307568.html.

The Unfreeze - Part 3

From an email yesterday:

Dear Bruin Community:

Following up on my message from yesterday, I am sharing that the National Institutes of Health (NIH) has reinstated grants to UCLA that were suspended on July 31, 2025. This means that most of UCLA’s previously suspended federal research support is now restored for the time being, given the reinstatement of National Science Foundation funding last month.

My office will send additional information to principal investigators. As we continue to navigate this together, I remain grateful to our talented researchers, faculty, staff and students who have shown great resilience in this challenging time.

We will continue to be in communication with any further updates.

Sincerely,

Roger M. Wakimoto

Vice Chancellor for Research & Creative Activities

===

Note: It is unclear from this message whether the funds are actually flowing to all grant recipients or whether they are just supposed to be flowing.

No Honorary Parking Meter?

There is this item about the late Professor Donald Shoup - the world's expert on parking - from the Daily Bruin's report on the Sept. 9 meeting of the Westwood Village Improvement Association: ...The council did not approve a motion to allocate a $1,500 Neighborhood Purpose Grant for the Westwood Village Improvement Association to build a parking meter commemorating Professor Donald Shoup. Shoup, who died in February, was a former council member and UCLA professor of urban planning. The council debated whether to honor his legacy with the proposed parking meter and plaque or a bike rack...

Full story https://dailybruin.com/2025/09/20/north-westwood-neighborhood-council-recap-sept-9.

For an interview with Prof. Shoup, go to:

https://archive.org/details/shoup_Recording_1280x720.

Straws in the Wind - Part 112

From CalMatters: In a few weeks, over 100 colleges and universities across California will lose access to essential funding for tutoring, academic counseling and other support services aimed at helping Black, Latino, Asian and Native American students succeed in college. The change comes after the U.S. Department of Education said earlier this month that it was ending a grant program that supports “minority-serving institutions,” claiming that it illegally favors certain racial or ethnic groups. Every state will lose money, but the Education Department’s decision hits California hardest. The state receives over a quarter of all of these diversity grants, since it has a high percentage of minority students, especially Latinos, and it has more college campuses than any other state.  

The state’s community college system could lose $20 million next year as a result of the funding cuts, said Chris Ferguson, who supports finance and strategic relations at the California Community Colleges Chancellor’s Office. The Cal State University and the University of California systems, which also receive this money, did not respond to questions about the amount of funding at risk...

Full story at https://calmatters.org/education/higher-education/2025/09/minority-student-funding-california/.

The Unfreeze - Part 2

Email of Oct. 23, 2025:

A federal judge has ruled that funding from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) that was suspended on July 31, 2025, must be restored to UCLA. The court issued this ruling in a class-action lawsuit filed several months ago by UC researchers. Our hope is that the agency will abide by the judge’s ruling. Taken together with the earlier reinstatement of National Science Foundation funding, this means that most of UCLA’s previously suspended federal research support should be restored for the time being.

My office will send additional information to principal investigators as soon as we have confirmation of NIH funding being reinstated. I want to acknowledge that this continues to be a challenging time for many in our community. We remain dedicated to doing everything in our power to protect the interests of our faculty, students and staff — and to uphold the values and principles that define us.

We will continue to be in communication with any updates.

Sincerely,

Roger M. Wakimoto

Vice Chancellor for Research & Creative Activities

====

Note: The experience at Harvard was that there was an erratic restart of funding. What the court says, and what actually happens, can differ.

Tweaks

Yours truly happened to be browsing on the systemwide Academic Senate website (doesn't everybody?) where various items are listed that are up for comments and deliberation.

He found one document* which mainly deals with such matters as aligning UC employment standards with federal labor requirements and adjusting internal documentation to meet a new law dealing with "official" letters of recommendation. (These are letters by university officials, not ordinary faculty members). 

But buried in the verbiage, he found some little tweaks of language of the type that might also be placed in the "Straws in the Wind" postings we have been doing.

For example, on page 27:

And on p. 28:

Comments are due by Dec. 10.

===

*https://senate.universityofcalifornia.edu/_files/underreview/systemwide-senate-review-apm-036-9-2025.pdf.

Straws in the Wind - Part 111

From KCRG: Following a three-hour closed session, the Iowa Board of Regents announced its decision on faculty members who had praised Charlie Kirk’s death on social media. The board has ordered three universities to launch immediate investigations into their faculty and staff to determine if they broke social media policies. All staff under investigation will be placed on administrative leave or removed from the classroom.

Some board members shared frustrations, with one member saying no investigations were conducted prior to the boards decision, which prevented any terminations from being issued this week. Another member added, while some of the social media posts are “appalling”, the First Amendment protects those statements.

Source: https://www.kcrg.com/2025/09/17/board-regents-orders-investigation-into-university-staff-social-media-posts/.

Will Harvard Continue to Lead the Charge? - Part 63

From the LA Times: The Trump administration escalated its fight with Harvard University [last] Friday, placing the Ivy League school under extra financial oversight and threatening sanctions if it does not provide additional data on its admissions practices. Education Secretary Linda McMahon said the department was placing Harvard under “heightened cash monitoring,” forcing the school to use its own money to pay out financial aid for students and then seek reimbursement from the government. She also threatened “further enforcement action” if the school does not turn over records to prove it no longer is considering race in admissions.

Harvard did not respond to a request for comment...

The Education Department is also investigating Harvard’s admissions practices as part of a wider effort to compel universities to prove that they are not using race to evaluate applicants. It says Harvard has not met all of its demands for information about its applicants and admitted students...

Full story at https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2025-09-20/trump-administration-threatens-further-sanctions-in-escalating-fight-with-harvard.

The Unfreeze

From CalMatters: A federal judge in California today ordered the Trump administration to restore 500 National Institutes of Health grants that it suspended at UCLA in July over accusations the campus tolerates antisemitism... Lin’s decision follows her string of orders since June that have restored hundreds of other UC research grants from multiple agencies. Her injunction is preliminary; the trial is ongoing. Today’s action restores virtually all of the 800 UCLA science grants the government froze in July — a value of more than $500 million. Lin’s order today of restoring 500 National Institutes of Health grants follows her decision last month that 300 National Science Foundation grants suspended in July be restored. The federal government complied with her August order by reversing the freezes...

Lin’s latest order also restores three Department of Transportation grants and an unknown number of Department of Defense grants that the Trump administration terminated this year. Lin gave lawyers for the Trump administration until Sept. 29 to submit a report confirming that they complied with her orders to restore the grants...

Full story at https://calmatters.org/education/2025/09/ucla-research-grants/.

Watch the Morning Regents Meeting of Sept. 17, 2025

The Regents meeting on Sept. 17th was a one-day affair rather than the usual two days. Chair Reilly explained the change saying her goal was to make the meetings more efficient. (It might be noted, however, that the next meetings in November are scheduled for three days, presumably an abbreviated day 1 and then the regular two days following.) She also referred to the Charlie Kirk shooting and made anti-violence remarks.

Public comments followed. Many were on behalf of Teamster issues. These included pay (including for translators), health insurance costs, and parking. There were also complaints about management bonuses and reference to the Teamsters' involvement in a lawsuit against the feds. Other comments were made asking for protections for grad student affected by funding cuts and for immigrant students, changes in the cohort model of tuition and concerns about student debt, student graduation rates, religious accommodation for Muslim students, gender-affirming care, Berkeley's giving of certain student names to the feds, military equipment by UC police, textbook costs, staff pay, protections for TAs and RAs, anti-Israel, slow processing of antisemitism complaints, and generalized comments urging resistance to the Trump administration.

After public comments, chair Reilly welcomed new president Milliken, new chair of the Senate Ahmet Palazoglu and vice chair Susannah Scott. Various chancellors were in attendance. Chancellor Frenk could be seen in the background. President Milliken spoke about the risks to UC from the confrontation with the feds, but also a longer-term loss of public confidence in higher ed. Other topics were free expression, the Charlie Kirk shooting, and opposition to violence.

Senate Chair Palazoglu spoke about the benefits of UC research to the larger society, the benefits to students, and a theme that "change" has to happen.

There was then a presentation on student-initiated and run charitable programs such as teaching in prisons, online lessons for girls in Afghanistan, food recovery to avoid waste, and other efforts. Student leaders spoke about resistance to the feds, concerns about fund and budget cuts, tuition and affordability, a desire to be consulted in some way concerning negotiations with the feds, trust, and Berkeley's provision of certain student names to the feds.

Undoubtedly, however, the most interesting discussion went on behind closed doors after the open session on the conflict and negotiation with the feds. The Regents have a kind of committee of ten that has held a series of closed meetings since the confrontation began. Presumably, the other Regents (not just the ten) were present for this session.

==

As always, we preserve recordings of Regents meetings indefinitely since the Regents have no policy on duration of retention and because even the YouTube recordings of Regents sessions are unlisted on that platform and may be difficult to find. The recording of the open portion of the Regents morning meeting of Sept. 17th is at:

https://ia800906.us.archive.org/10/items/2-board-8-30-am-9-17-2025/2-Board%208_30%20AM%209-17-2025.mp4.

Straws in the Wind - Part 110

From the NY Times: Texas A&M University’s president will step down after facing criticism over his handling of turmoil over a children’s literature course that recognized more than two genders, the university’s Board of Regents announced [last] Thursday. President Mark Welsh’s last day will be on Friday, the board said. The move comes after the university fired the lecturer of the course, Melissa McCoul, and removed two administrators over the controversy. The issue caught national attention after a student filmed herself arguing with Dr. McCoul, citing President Trump, who has said his administration would push for the recognition of only two genders...

The student’s video went viral on social media last week after it was posted by a state lawmaker. Republican politicians in Texas, including Gov. Greg Abbott, criticized the university and accused Dr. McCoul of “blatantly indoctrinating students in gender ideology.” Mr. Welsh fired Dr. McCoul the next day and explained in a statement then that his decision was not “about academic freedom; it’s about academic responsibility.” He said that Dr. McCoul’s course had included “content that was inconsistent with the published course description,” adding, “If we allow different course content to be taught from what is advertised, we break trust with our students.” ...

Full story at https://www.nytimes.com/2025/09/18/us/texas-am-president-gender-ideology-controversy.html.

Will Harvard Continue to Lead the Charge? - Part 62

From the Boston Globe: University administrators have instructed Harvard Medical School to cut its research enterprise by at least 20 percent by the end of this fiscal year, the school’s dean, George Daley, said... In his State of the School remarks, Daley said the planned research cuts are part of the university’s overall effort to spend more efficiently in the face of federal funding cuts and the imposition of a much steeper endowment tax, which take effect on Jan. 1...

In the short term, Daley said, the medical school is drawing on tens of millions in stopgap funding. During this school year, that emergency funding, along with lab rainy day funds and department discretionary funds, will support about three quarters of the research that was previously funded by the federal government, Daley said. After the fiscal year ends on June 30, the school must further contract its research enterprise, Daley said...

Full story at https://www.bostonglobe.com/2025/09/18/metro/harvard-medical-school-to-cut-research-by-20-percent/.

Webinar with Chancellor Frenk

This webinar is part of a weekly series. It is live and then put on YouTube later. During the live stream, you can post questions to Chancellor Frenk. To register, go to:

https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_q6RUu_dRRp27bvXHHdEStg#/registration

Straws in the Wind - Part 109

From the Yale Daily News: The [Yale] Graduate School of Arts and Sciences is considering a plan to reduce graduate enrollment in the humanities and social sciences by 12 percent over the next three years as Yale navigates an increased tax on its endowment returns. Stephen Murphy, the University’s vice president of finance and chief financial officer, presented a slideshow on the endowment tax and the proposed plan to directors of graduate studies across departments during a meeting on Aug. 25, according to professors who attended the meeting. 

Jonathan Kramnick, the director of graduate studies for the English language and literature department, recalled the directors were informed about a constriction in cohort size for incoming classes starting in the 2026-27 academic year. “We were told that there will be an across-the-board 12 percent reduction in the total number of students in the humanities and social sciences division of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences that will be implemented over a three-year term,” Kramnick said in a phone interview with the News. 

An emailed statement from Yale’s Office of Public Affairs and Communications noted that the plan to reduce GSAS admissions was not finalized. The statement was attributed to Lynn Cooley, the dean of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences who was present at the August meeting. The statement did not confirm or deny the plan’s details, nor did it respond to questions about how reduced enrollment would be implemented and impact Yale...

Full story at https://yaledailynews.com/blog/2025/09/18/yale-considering-reduction-in-graduate-student-enrollment-professors-say/.

Will Harvard Continue to Lead the Charge? - Part 61

From the Harvard Crimson: In a rare address two years after her resignation, former University President Claudine Gay issued a blistering rebuke of Harvard in Amsterdam on Sept. 3, accusing her successor of surrendering to Donald Trump. Gay, the University’s shortest-serving president, warned in an address at the Netherlands Institute for Advanced Study that Harvard was adopting a stance of “compliance,” according to a recording shared with The Crimson. 

Harvard President Alan M. Garber ’76 has been engaged for months in a legal back-and-forth with the Trump administration over federal funding and international enrollment. Though Garber rejected Trump’s demands to influence faculty hiring and curriculum in April, he soon went back to the negotiating table. And Harvard has taken steps that mirror the administration’s demands since the spring — such as closing its diversity offices and shaking up leadership at programs studying the Middle East.

...Gay’s own tenure was filled with unprecedented pressure from Washington. International backlash over Harvard’s response to Hamas’s attack on Israel and a student group statement placing blame on Israel created a perfect storm for a leadership crisis. She resigned in January 2024 after stumbling during questioning by a congressional committee and facing allegations of plagiarism in her scholarship...

Full story at https://www.thecrimson.com/article/2025/9/19/former-president-blasts-compliance/.

Rules and Regulations

From an email circulated on Sept. 19: Dear Bruin Community:

In Chancellor Frenk’s message about One UCLA last week,[1] he wrote about the need for our campus to “foster and celebrate pluralism in all dimensions.” As we prepare for the beginning of the new academic year, we are writing to highlight key policies and resources — related to free expression, safety and community well-being — that will help us achieve this goal. Our central aim is to ensure that UCLA is a place where Bruins of all backgrounds and identities feel safe, welcome, respected and able to participate fully in campus life.

Freedom of Expression at UCLA

UCLA is deeply committed to freedom of expression, a principle that is fundamental to our academic mission. The free exchange of ideas — even when those ideas are difficult or uncomfortable — helps us test our assumptions, expand our perspectives and ultimately uncover truth.

Aside from an institutional value, freedom of expression is also a right: As a public university, UCLA is barred by the Constitution from restricting expression on the basis of viewpoint. This means that speech by students, faculty, staff and visitors — when conducted in line with university policies — is legally protected. This is true even when speech may be controversial, unpopular or offensive.

While the right to free speech is legally protected, this protection is not absolute. The university has the right to enforce certain policies that regulate speech. These are called Time, Place and Manner policies [2] — and information about them is below.  Also, discriminatory acts, harassment and abuse are strictly prohibited by law and university policy. Anyone who experiences such conduct should immediately report it to the university.[3]

UCLA’s free speech website has more details on campus policies and procedures, answers to frequently asked questions, and resources that describe the way in which we uphold fundamental rights while maintaining our commitment to a safe and inclusive environment for all.[4]

One final way in which we aim to foster free expression: Campus leaders will generally refrain from issuing statements on behalf of the university about societal, political and public matters not directly related to UCLA. Such institutional statements can imply a false sense of unanimity about a given topic, stifle the free exchange of ideas and risk making parts of our diverse community feel silenced or unheard. Learn more in the Statement on Statements Working Group final report published last summer.[5]

Policies Related to Campus Events, Public Expression and Related Activities

At UCLA, there are many avenues for students, faculty and staff to advocate for their views — from participating in forums or debates, to engaging with Registered Campus Organizations (RCOs), to joining peaceful demonstrations.

While we encourage you to make your voice heard about the issues that matter to you, the university maintains policies that govern when, where and how free expression activities may take place. These Time, Place and Manner (TPM) policies are designed to ensure that demonstrations, protests and other forms of speech are carried out safely and do not interfere with the core operations of the university.[6]

UCLA’s finalized TPM policies, which have been undergoing a comprehensive campus review process for the past several years, were shared with the campus this morning. Policies include:

• UCLA Policy 850: General Use of UCLA Property [7] • UCLA Policy 852: Public Expression Activities [8] • UCLA Policy 860: Organized Events [9] • UCLA Policy 862: Major Events [10]

We encourage you to read and familiarize yourself with these policies. Everyone is expected to follow them, and individuals who violate the policies may face legal penalties and exclusion from parts of campus. UCLA students who violate these policies may face additional sanctions including suspension and dismissal, and employees may face disciplinary action including probation, suspension without pay, dismissal and application of relevant collective bargaining agreements.

Any individuals or RCOs planning public expression activities or on-campus events must become familiar with the policy requirements. RCO signatories are required to attend an expressive activities presentation to maintain eligibility for the 2025–26 academic year. Each RCO registered with the UCLA Office of Student Organizations, Leadership and Engagement (SOLE) has a dedicated advisor; student leaders should reach out to their advisors when planning large campus activities or events to ensure alignment with policies and to receive other support to plan a successful event.[11] Facilities managers should coordinate with the Events Office to facilitate planning of all events within their purview.

RCOs found responsible for violating the university’s TPM policies may face probation, suspension and revocation of university recognition.

For other inquiries associated with when, where and how events may be conducted on campus, please contact the Events Office at Events@ucla.edu. RCOs may contact their SOLE advisors or email UCLASOLE@ucla.edu.

Safety and Well-Being Resources

Finally, we wish to share several campus resources that may be useful to UCLA community members heading into the fall:

• Emergency Notifications - UCLA uses BruinALERT to notify students, staff and faculty of a dangerous situation or significant emergency that threatens the health or safety of members of the campus community or disrupts normal operations of campus.[12]     ◦ UCLA faculty and staff with valid email addresses and mobile phone numbers in UCPath and students with valid email addresses and mobile phone numbers in MyUCLA are automatically enrolled to receive email and text message alerts.   ◦ UCLA Health faculty and staff in MedNet with a declared work location in the Westwood area are automatically enrolled to receive email alerts.   ◦ Family and friends of UCLA students, staff and faculty who would like to receive BruinALERT SMS text alerts may sign up by texting BRUINALERT to 888777.     Please take a moment to verify your information on UCPath or MyUCLA, especially your correct mobile phone number, to ensure timely receipt of SMS text message alerts. Learn more about emergency alerts in this Sept. 12 message to campus.[13]   • Other Campus Activity Notifications - UCLA will utilize Bruins Safe Online (BSO) to post important operational updates about campus activities that may disrupt the flow of regular business. Please refer to this page often for updates during periods of heightened campus activity.   • Campus Safety Resources - Visit the BSO page for campus safety resources and services, including emergency information, personal safety tips and how to report a concerning behavior or safety issue.[14] Download the Bruins Safe app to contact campus safety staff quickly, receive notifications and instructions if on-campus emergencies occur, and more.   • Mental Health and Well-Being Resources - UCLA cares deeply about the mental health and well-being of its community members. Prioritizing wellness helps students achieve academic success and personal growth, helps faculty bring their best to their courses and research and helps staff contribute to a vibrant campus environment. Students can find comprehensive resources on the Be Well Bruin website, in addition to our free speech website, which also includes a host of resources for faculty and staff.

Thriving communities are built together. By understanding and following university policies — and by making use of the resources available — we can ensure that UCLA remains a place where every Bruin feels safe, welcome and empowered to succeed.

We hope you will make the most of your experience at UCLA — whether you are learning, teaching, researching, working or visiting. We wish you a safe, fulfilling and successful academic year.

Sincerely,

Darnell Hunt Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost

Michael J. Beck Administrative Vice Chancellor

Monroe Gorden Jr. Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs

Steve Lurie Associate Vice Chancellor for Campus & Community Safety

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[1] https://chancellor.ucla.edu/messages/one-ucla-renewed-focus-on-our-future.

[2] https://tpm.ucla.edu/.

[3] https://equity.ucla.edu/report-an-incident/.

[4] https://freespeech.ucla.edu/.

[5] https://evcp.ucla.edu/wp-content/uploads/UCLA-STATEMENT-ON-STATEMENTS.pdf.

[6] https://tpm.ucla.edu/.

[7] https://www.adminpolicies.ucla.edu/APP/Number/850.0.

[8] https://www.adminpolicies.ucla.edu/APP/Number/852.0.

[9] https://www.adminpolicies.ucla.edu/APP/Number/860.0.

[10] https://www.adminpolicies.ucla.edu/APP/Number/862.0.

[11] https://sole.ucla.edu/.

[12] https://bso.ucla.edu/bruinalert.

[13] https://ucla.app.box.com/s/px6czufr2kmjtir19w7zkhfac2b71v6c.

[14] https://bso.ucla.edu/campus-safety-resources.

[15] https://bewellbruin.ucla.edu/.

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Note: Yours truly has made sure the Internet Archive has stored current versions of this announcement and the various footnoted items.