Straws in the Wind - Part 58

From The Assembly: The University of North Carolina System’s Board of Governors has directed the board of trustees at each campus to form a new subcommittee that will scrutinize compliance with diversity, equity, and inclusion policies...

The new trustee committees will receive briefings from their chancellor or the responsible senior administrator on training provided to staff about the equality policy, the responsibilities of any roles that were reassigned to other work, and the performance of “relevant” personnel. The panels will also receive reports on “updated institutional webpages and mission statements for programs, curriculum, and objectives.” ...

The directive also comes after Accuracy in Media, a conservative advocacy group, released secretly recorded videos from several UNC campuses that captured administrators talking about DEI efforts. Most of the administrators featured in the videos are no longer employed at those institutions, though the schools haven’t said whether they resigned or were fired. Republican state lawmakers have pointed to the videos as proof that DEI-related activities are continuing on campuses in violation of the UNC System’s policies...

The memo directed these new subcommittees to hold open-session briefings from chancellors on DEI compliance... “These confidential reviews should compare an individual’s prior position to his or her new responsibilities, including how the employee’s performance in that role has changed, and what safeguards exist to ensure an employee’s previous responsibilities do not continue in the present role... “Confidential briefings from the chancellor on any disciplinary action taken against personnel should occur at this time as well.” ...

Full story at https://www.theassemblync.com/education/higher-education/unc-board-of-governors-dei-compliance/.

From the Huffington Post: Brown University... announced a deal with the Trump administration to regain access to federal research funding and end investigations into alleged discrimination.

The Ivy League school agreed to pay $50 million to workforce development organizations in Rhode Island over 10 years as part of the agreement, along with other concessions in line with President Donald Trump’s political agenda. Brown will adopt the government’s definition of “male” and “female,” for example, and must remove any consideration of race from the admissions process.

The three-year deal has numerous similarities with one signed last week by Columbia University that the government called a roadmap for other universities. Unlike that agreement, however, Brown’s does not include an outside monitor.

The agreement with Brown restores dozens of grants and contracts that had been suspended during an investigation into Brown’s handling of allegations of antisemitism, including during pro-Palestinian protests on campus last spring. It also calls for the federal government to reimburse Brown for $50 million in unpaid federal grant costs.

Brown agreed to several measures aimed at addressing allegations of antisemitism on its campus in Providence, Rhode Island. The school said it will renew partnerships with Israeli academics and encourage Jewish day school students to apply to Brown. By the end of this year, Brown must hire an outside organization — to be chosen jointly by Brown and the government — to conduct a campus survey on the climate for Jewish students.

Education Secretary Linda McMahon said Brown’s deal ensures students will be judged “solely on their merits, not their race or sex.” ...

Full story at https://www.huffpost.com/entry/ap-us-trump-education-brown_n_688a8d56e4b07dfa117f1e76.

UCAD

Back in April, the systemwide Academic Senate created "The Academic Senate Task Force on UC Adaptation to Disruptions (UCAD)." The acronym maybe wasn't the best name for a committee, but what do I know? Anyway, the "disruptions" to which it referred weren't encampments or that kind of thing. We seem to have moved on from that. No, the disruptions in question were (are) the various directives and funding cuts coming out of Washington, DC. The charge to the task force is below:

Academic Senate Task Force on UC Adaptation to Disruptions (UCAD) 

April 8, 2025 

Overarching Goal 

The Task Force on UCAD will develop response strategies that aim to uphold the teaching and education, research and discovery, and public service mission areas of the University of California in the context of disruptive federal executive orders, uncertain federal and state partnerships, and evolving shifts in the higher education landscape. 

Task Force Charge Goal 

The Task Force will conduct relevant analyses and align its planning efforts with UC’s longstanding commitment to access, inclusivity, and excellence. The focus will be on assessing current serious threats and developing viable response options across multiple scenarios in each of the following four priority areas: 

1. Restructuring of academic programs, 

2. Resizing of programs and the workforce, 

3. Recalibration of growth objectives, and 

4. Realignment of funding sources with mission activities 

As core functions of the University and deeply held institutional values are at risk, the Task Force will address these areas both independently and in relation to one another, recognizing their interconnected impacts. The scope of analysis may well extend beyond those listed above, but immediate attention should be given to these priority areas based on the potential harm that could come to students, faculty, staff, and healthcare patients in the near term. 

The Task Force is expected to approach issues analytically, with data whenever possible, and to contribute ideas to near-term academic and operations restructuring, as well as recommendations for long-term planning. The Task Force should draw on the expertise of Academic Senate and administrative leaders and consider a broad array of perspectives through timely consultative outreach and engagement beyond its membership, as needed. 

Task Force Membership 

1. Ahmet Palazoglu, Systemwide Academic Senate Vice Chair & Task Force Chair 

2. Steven W. Cheung, Systemwide Academic Senate Chair & UCSF 

3. Tim Groeling, UCPB Chair (Alternate: Robert Brosnan, UCPB Vice Chair) 

4. Susanne Nicholas, UCORP Chair (Alternate: Jim Weatherall, UCORP Vice Chair) 

5. James Bisley, CCGA Chair 

6. Kristen Holmquist, UCAADE Vice Chair 

7. Juan Pablo Pardo-Guerra, UCFW Chair 

8. Nael Abu-Ghazaleh, UCAP Chair 

9. Amani Nuru-Jeter, UCB Senate Division Chair 

10. Kathy Bawn, UCLA Senate Division Chair 

11. Olivia Graeve, UCSD Senate Division Chair 

12. Matt McCarthy, UCSC Senate Division Chair

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Administration Consultants 

1. Katherine Newman, Provost & Executive Vice President, Academic Affairs 

2. Nathan Brostrom, Executive Vice President & Chief Financial Officer 

3. Theresa Maldonado, Vice President, Research & Innovation 

4. Alex Bustamante, Senior Vice President & Chief Compliance and Audit Officer 

5. Yvette Gullatt, Vice President & Vice Provost, Graduate, Undergraduate and Equity Affairs 

6. David Rubin, Executive Vice President, UC Health 

7. Jody Stiger, Director, Systemwide Community Safety 

8. Allison Woodall, UC Legal 

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Task Force Staff Support 

1. Monica Lin, Systemwide Academic Senate 

2. Michael LaBriola, Systemwide Academic Senate 

3. Stefani Leto, Systemwide Academic Senate 

4. Ken Feer, Systemwide Academic Senate 

Timeline & Deliverables 

The Task Force will deliver recommendations on an ad hoc basis, as needed, to UCOP leadership and an interim report to the Academic Council by July 16, 2025, in advance of a planned discussion of the report at the Council’s July 23 meeting. UCAD membership and subsequent milestones and/or deliverables will be determined moving forward, given uncertainties in the political landscape.

Source: https://ucop.app.box.com/s/wndf3lk968gajbr3i469s94ysluwajgp.

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There was also an official announcement once the task force was formed:

Ahmet Palazoglu

Vice Chair, UC Academic Council

ahmet.palazoglu@ucop.edu

Academic Senate Division Chairs

Academic Senate Executive Directors

April 22, 2025

RE: Academic Senate Task Force on UC Adaptation to Disruptions (UCAD)

Dear Colleagues,

I am writing to announce the formation of a new systemwide Academic Senate Task Force on UC Adaptation to Disruptions (UCAD). This task force was established by the Academic Council in recognition of the need to proactively consider how the University can uphold its teaching, research, and public service missions in the face of potentially severe and unpredictable external disruptions.

UCAD’s goal is to develop response strategies that safeguard the University’s core functions amid federal executive actions, shifting partnerships with federal and state governments, and other changes in the higher education landscape. To this end, the task force is charged with analyzing impacts and developing response strategies in four key areas:

1. Restructuring of academic programs

2. Resizing of programs and the workforce

3. Recalibration of growth objectives

4. Realignment of funding sources with mission activities

UCAD will approach these issues analytically, drawing on the expertise of Senate and administrative leaders, and will consult broadly as needed to ensure a wide range of perspectives.

An initial report will be submitted to the Academic Council by June 18, 2025. At this time, UCAD is expected to continue its work into the fall, with extensions as needed. Given the sensitive and rapidly evolving nature of this work, all meetings are being held in executive session to support open and candid discussions.

We recognize the importance of communicating with the broader Senate and faculty community. To this end, a UCAD webpage has been established and is where the task force will post information about its charge, membership, goals, and shareable updates: https://senate.universityofcalifornia.edu/committees/ucad.html. The webpage also includes an email address (AcademicSenateUCAD@ucop.edu) where members of the University community may submit input or questions for the task force to consider.

We encourage divisional Senate offices and chairs to help raise awareness of UCAD’s purpose and activities through local communication channels. Thank you for your engagement with this important work. We look forward to keeping you informed as UCAD’s efforts progress.

Sincerely,

Ahmet Palazoglu

Chair, UCAD

cc: UCAD, Senate Executive Director Lin

Source: https://senate.universityofcalifornia.edu/_files/committees/council/council-vice-chair-to-senate-divisions-re-ucad.pdf.

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You will note that the document above mentions an initial report for the Academic Council by June 18. The charging document says there will be an initial report on July 16. Whichever it was, both dates have passed and no report can be found on the Senate's website or the task force website. Just an observation...

Double D-Day (Deadline Decision)

Earlier today, we reprinted Chancellor Frenk's email of yesterday evening concerning the cutoff of funding from the feds. There is also this from the LA Times:

...The Department of Justice said this week that it had found UCLA guilty of violating the civil rights of Jewish and Israeli students. The department also indicated that it wanted to the university to enter into negotiations to avoid a federal lawsuit.

The department gave UCLA a Tuesday deadline to communicate its desire to negotiate. If not, the DOJ said, it was ready to sue by Sept. 2.

The University of California, in a statement, was unclear on whether it would settle or go to court.

“UCLA has addressed and will continue to address the issues raised in [the] Department of Justice notice,” Stett Holbrook, associate director of Strategic and Critical Communications, wrote in a statement Wednesday. He cited a $6.45-million settlement the university reached with Jewish students who had sued over claims that the 2024 encampment had discriminated against them. “We have cooperated fully with the Department of Justice’s investigation and are reviewing its findings closely,” Holbrook wrote...

Full story at https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2025-07-31/trump-freezes-nih-nsf-funding-ucla.

It should be noted that although the deadline was specified as next Tuesday, DOJ says that if there are no negotiations, it would sue by September 2. So the actual deadline appears to be softer than August 5.*

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*The text reads:

If you are interested in resolving this matter along these lines, please contact please reach out to Senior Counsel Jeffrey Morrison (jeffrey.morrison@usdoj.gov and (202) 598-515) by August 5, 2025. Unless there is reasonable certainty that we can reach an agreement in this matter, the United States is prepared to file a complaint in federal district court by September 2, 2025.

Source: https://www.justice.gov/crt/media/1409416/dl?inline. 

New UCLA Police Chief

Craig Valenzuela appointed UCLA chief of police

The Bruin alum returns to campus after nearly three decades with the LAPD

UCLA Newsroom

July 28, 2025

Craig Valenzuela, a UCLA alumnus and veteran of the Los Angeles Police Department with broad experience in community-focused law enforcement leadership, has been selected as the new chief of the university’s police department, Associate Vice Chancellor for Campus and Community Safety Steve Lurie announced today. 

Valenzuela will begin his new role on Sept. 1.

“I am pleased to welcome Chief Valenzuela back to UCLA to serve in this critical role,” Chancellor Julio Frenk said. “The safety of our UCLA community is a top priority, and Chief Valenzuela’s accomplishments during over two decades of law enforcement leadership make him an ideal leader for UCLA’s police department. As our new Office of Campus and Community Safety continues to grow and as UCLA prepares to host the world’s Olympic and Paralympic athletes in 2028, I know Chief Valenzuela will elevate safety in a way that is inclusive and grounded in the tenets of 21st-century policing.”

Valenzuela, who grew up in Harbor City in the South Bay, joined the LAPD in 1996 after earning a bachelor’s degree in political science from UCLA. Over the course of his career, he has served in a variety of leadership roles with the department, including as commanding officer of the North Hollywood Patrol Division and the elite Metropolitan Division. As a commander, he led and mentored commanding officers in the San Fernando Valley, South Los Angeles and with the department’s traffic group.

Valenzuela is a graduate of the FBI National Academy, widely regarded as the world’s top law enforcement executive training program; the Sherman Block Supervisory Leadership Institute, run by the California Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training; and the LAPD’s Command Development Program. He also holds a master’s degree in public administration from the University of Southern California. 

“I am thrilled to welcome Chief Valenzuela back to UCLA,” Lurie said. “He participated in a nationwide search, competing among exemplary leaders from across the country. Chancellor Frenk has stated that UCLA’s safety and security is his ‘meta-priority.’ As the administrator charged with carrying out that mission, I am humbled, honored and grateful to have Chief Valenzuela join our team.” 

The new chief was selected by a committee that included faculty, administrators, students and staff from UCLA and experienced law enforcement executives. He will take over from UCLA’s Interim Chief Scott Scheffler, who has headed the department since December 2024.

“The opportunity to come home to UCLA, to work at this police department with these dedicated professionals, is the thrill of a lifetime,” Valenzuela said. “I cannot wait to partner with our students, faculty and staff in keeping UCLA safe.”

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Source: https://newsroom.ucla.edu/releases/craig-valenzuela-appointed-ucla-chief-of-police.

Straws in the Wind - Part 57

From Inside Higher Ed: A record number of American students applied to college or university in the United Kingdom for fall 2025, according to recent data from the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS), the U.K.’s shared admission service. Some 7,930 U.S. undergraduates submitted applications, a year-over-year increase of nearly 14 percent. UCAS’s data points to a trend among Americans who have expressed interest in emigrating after President Trump’s reelection in November. Some young Americans have elected to leave the U.S. to pursue a graduate degree in response to the Trump administration and its policies. 

An exodus of domestic students to universities overseas could have negative consequences for already strapped institutions looking to recruit a shrinking undergraduate population...

Full story at https://www.insidehighered.com/news/quick-takes/2025/07/21/more-us-students-apply-uk-colleges-post-trump.

Fund Suspension

 

From an email received Thursday evening, July 31, 2025: Dear Bruin Community:

UCLA received a notice that the federal government, through its control of the National Science Foundation (NSF), the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and other agencies, is suspending certain research funding to UCLA. This is not only a loss to the researchers who rely on critical grants. It is a loss for Americans across the nation whose work, health, and future depend on the groundbreaking work we do.

To explain what I mean, I’d like to share a story. Thirteen years ago, Dr. Abbas Ardehali — a UCLA professor who leads groundbreaking research at the Heart and Lung Transplant Program in our Division of Cardiothoracic Surgery — changed the future of transplant medicine. He performed the first-ever lung transplant using the Organ Care System, a technology that keeps lungs breathing outside the body while they wait to be transplanted.

Dr. Ardehali had a simple but radical belief: that we could save more lives if we stopped transporting organs on ice in drugstore coolers and instead kept them alive. He was right. Today, he and his team continue to push boundaries in transplant medicine research — not just preserving organs, but reviving and repairing them. That work is saving lives every day for ordinary Americans, veterans and our dedicated servicemembers.

And the first person to benefit from Dr. Ardehali’s breakthrough? Not a well-connected diplomat or tycoon, but a local grandfather and carpenter — someone who helped build the very Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center where his life was saved.

This story captures so much of what UCLA stands for: life-changing research, driven by compassion and shared with the world. What we discover and create here — with the help and support of grants such as those from the NSF and NIH — doesn’t just stay within the walls of our labs or lecture halls. It reaches real people and real lives across this nation, often in the most transformative ways.

Great universities are connective, forging links across disciplines and communities, bridging divides with empathy and insight. They are impactful, translating discoveries into action, and ideals into progress. UCLA is a truly great university, as evidenced by the connections we create and lives we improve — not just of those who study on our campus, but of people everywhere.

You can see that in so many parts of our research:

• Our planetary scientists, supported by the NSF and NASA, are searching for asteroids and other objects in space that could threaten Earth. • Our Valley Fever Center, funded by the NIH, is working to better understand and treat the deadly invasive disease for which it is named. • UCLA researchers helped create the Internet with support from the Department of Defense, and are now building new technologies that could fuel entire industries and help safeguard our soldiers.

This progress comes from a uniquely American idea: that public research universities, backed by federal support, can move our nation and all of civilization forward.

That is why the news we received is so deeply disappointing. With this decision, hundreds of grants may be lost, adversely affecting the lives and life-changing work of UCLA researchers, faculty and staff. In its notice to us, the federal government claims antisemitism and bias as the reasons. This far-reaching penalty of defunding life-saving research does nothing to address any alleged discrimination.

We share the goal of eradicating antisemitism across society. Antisemitism has no place on our campus, nor does any form of discrimination. We recognize that we can improve, and I am committed to doing so. Confronting the scourge of antisemitism effectively calls for thoughtfulness, commitment, and sustained effort — and UCLA has taken robust actions to make our campus a safe and welcoming environment for all students.

Earlier this year, we took concrete action by creating a new Office of Campus and Community Safety, instituting new policies to manage protests on campus, and taking decisive action for conduct that violates our policies.

We also launched an Initiative to Combat Antisemitism that is mobilizing our broad community to extinguish antisemitism completely and definitively. This is a standing initiative reporting directly to me.

As part of this initiative, UCLA is implementing recommendations of the Task Force to Combat Antisemitism and Anti-Israeli Bias. These include enhancing relevant training and education, improving the complaint system, ensuring enforcement of current and new laws and policies and cooperating with stakeholders.

These initiatives are deeply personal to me. My paternal grandparents left Germany in the 1930s with my father, who was 6 years old, and my aunt, who was 4. They were driven out of their home by an intolerable climate of antisemitism and hate. Members of my family who did not make that decision perished. My wife is the daughter of a Holocaust survivor, whose family was murdered in the concentration camps.

That history is part of what drew me to UCLA. Our university was founded on the principle that everyone, no matter their background, deserves the freedom to learn and use that knowledge to make this world a better place. With the support of our government at all levels, UCLA’s research, innovation and education does that every day, benefiting Americans across the nation.

Let me be clear: Federal research grants are not handouts. Our researchers compete fiercely for these grants, proposing work that the government itself deems vital to the country’s health, safety and economic future. Grants lead to medical breakthroughs, economic advancement, improved national security and global competitiveness — these are national priorities.

UCLA has an obligation to ensure that the resources entrusted to us by society add maximum value back to society.

For the past several months, our leadership team has been preparing for this situation and have developed comprehensive contingency plans. We will do everything we can to protect the interests of faculty, students and staff — and to defend our values and principles. With the support of the UC Board of Regents and the UC Office of the President, we are actively evaluating our best course of action. We will be in constant communication as decisions move forward.

Our motto is Fiat Lux: Let there be light.

I see that light all around us: In the patient that Dr. Ardehali treated who got a second chance to hold his grandchildren, in the students who come from all walks of life with big dreams and bold ideas, in the quiet determination of researchers working late into the night on solutions that could change everything.

Fiat Lux isn’t just a phrase on our seal. It is a promise — to keep shining light where it is needed most.

Much is at stake, but UCLA has faced defining moments before. And we have always met them with courage, resilience and resolve.

We are One UCLA.

Julio Frenk Chancellor

The Memo

From Inside Higher Ed: More than three months after a federal court struck down an Education Department directive that barred any practices that consider race at colleges across the country, the Department of Justice declared Wednesday that diversity, equity and inclusion practices are unlawful and “discriminatory.” But the agency’s memo goes even further than ED’s guidance, suggesting that programs that rely on what they describe as stand-ins for race, like recruitment efforts that focus on majority-minority geographic areas, could violate federal civil rights laws. The directive applies to any organization that receives federal funds, and DOJ officials warned that engaging in potentially unlawful practices could lead to a loss in grant funding.

Other examples of “potentially unlawful proxies” include requirements that job applicants “demonstrate ‘cultural competence,’ ‘lived experience,’ or ‘cross-cultural skills’” or narratives about how the applicant has overcome obstacles, Attorney General Pamela Bondi wrote.

...Many of the practices declared unlawful in the nine-page memo echo those referenced in the Education Department’s February Dear Colleague letter, such as race-based scholarships. But it also explicitly states that “BIPOC-only study lounges” and similar facilities are unlawful. The Education Department’s guidance mentioned race-based facilities generally but not specifically study lounges...

The only truly safe ways to admit students right now are to admit everyone or only use standardized test scores,” Robert Kelchen, a professor in the University of Tennessee at Knoxville’s Department of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies, wrote in an email to Inside Higher Ed... 

Full story at https://www.insidehighered.com/news/government/2025/07/30/doj-declares-slew-dei-practices-unlawful-memo.

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The full memo is at https://www.justice.gov/ag/media/1409486/dl. Executive summary below: 

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

This guidance emphasizes the significant legal risks of initiatives that involve discrimination based on protected characteristics and provides non-binding best practices to help  entities avoid the risk of violations. Key points include:

• Statutory nondiscrimination requirements: Federal law prohibits discrimination based on protected characteristics like race, sex, color, national origin, or religion.
• Legal pitfalls of DEI Programs: The use of terms such as *DEI," "Equity," or other euphemistic terms does not excuse unlawful discrimination or absolve parties from scrutiny  regarding potential violations.
• Prohibition on Protected Characteristics as Criteria: Using race, sex, or other protected characteristics for employment, program participation, resource allocation, or other similar activities, opportunities, or benefits, is unlawful, except in rare cases where such discrimination satisfies the relevant level of judicial scrutiny.
• Importance of Sex-separated Intimate Spaces and Athletic Competitions: Compelling employees to share intimate spaces with the opposite sex or allowing men to compete in women's athletic competitions would typically be unlawful.
• Unlawful Proxy Discrimination: Facially neutral criteria (e.g., "cultural competence,"  "lived experience," geographic targeting) that function as proxies for protected characteristics violate federal law if designed or applied with the intention of advantaging  or disadvantaging individuals based on protected characteristics.
• Scrutiny of Third-Party Funding: Recipients of federal ñrnds should ensure federal funds do not support third-party programs that discriminate.
• Protection Against Retaliation: Individuals who object to or refuse to participate in discriminatory programs, trainings, or policies are protected from adverse actions like termination or exclusion based on that individual's opposition to those practices.