Campus unveils Four-Point Plan for a Safer, Stronger UCLA

With Bruins on the cusp of a new academic year, UCLA has announced a new framework for protecting the safety of the campus community, fostering dialogue and mutual understanding, and promoting freedom of expression in line with recently issued University of California policies.

The Four-Point Plan for a Safer, Stronger UCLA, outlined today in a message from Interim Chancellor Darnell Hunt, builds on months of reflection and consultation with students, faculty and staff following the divisive events of last spring centered around demonstrations and counter-demonstrations related to the Israel-Hamas war. The plan introduces new programs, initiatives and review processes aimed at clarifying and strengthening UCLA's policies and protocols, healing rifts on campus, and engendering a sense of security and belonging among the community.

"As a campus that promotes inclusive excellence, we must protect the ability for Bruins of all backgrounds and identities to feel safe, welcome, respected and able to participate fully in campus life," Hunt said. "We may not always see eye-to-eye on important and topical issues, but if we engage one another with respect and empathy, we can both grow as people and maintain a healthy academic environment for everyone."

Community safety

Creating an environment in which every member of UCLA's diverse community can learn, teach and work without fear is an essential first component of the plan, said Hunt, who spotlighted the central role of UCLA's new Office of Campus Safetyin coordinating and enhancing safety efforts across campus and helping university leaders improve procedures for addressing potentially dangerous situations.

Heading into fall, the office, which was created in May and has oversight over policing and emergency management operations, will be meeting with and listening to members of campus to better understand their diverse perspectives on policing and community security with the goal of improving approaches to safety and addressing concerns that arise fairly and effectively.

The office's future work will also build off of recent reports on campus safety conducted at both the UC systemwide and campus levels, Hunt said.

Engagement and dialogue

Acknowledging the toll recent events have had on UCLA's sense of community and mutual trust, Hunt said the plan places a strong emphasis on healing and rebuilding connections, particularly through efforts like those of the Dialogue Across Differenceinitiative at UCLA's Bedari Kindness Institute,which focuses on fostering empathy and active listening among UCLA community members who find themselves on opposite sides of difficult issues.

In October, the initiative will host the first in a string of workshops for studentsand for faculty and staffthat focus on how to have constructive conversations about divisive political topics. In November, it launches the "Compassionate Conversations" speaker series,featuring experts from UCLA and beyond discussing how to address challenging topical issues with compassion, kindness and empathy.

In addition, a wide variety of additional workshops, antidiscrimination training sessions, community-building exercises, internships and fellowships will be offered by Dialogue Across Difference (sign up here for program updates) and other schools and units across campus. In the same spirit, this academic year's Common Experiencebook for the Bruin community will be "The War for Kindness"by Jamil Zaki, which focuses on building empathy.

"Part of our learning and growth comes from engagement with viewpoints we may not agree with or readily understand," Hunt stressed. "While this may be uncomfortable, it is also what helps us deepen our thinking, weigh different approaches and consider new ways of looking at an issue. Ultimately, it advances truth, knowledge and understanding."

Free expression

The free expression of ideas is a fundamental pillar of the campus's academic mission. And as a public institution, the university is barred by the Constitution from prohibiting speech or other forms of expression, regardless of the speaker's viewpoint.

At the same time, UCLA, like all universities, has policies that govern when, where and how people can express themselves. These "time, place and manner" regulations are designed to allow community members to engage in free expression and use UCLA properties in ways that don't jeopardize safety or disrupt the functioning of the university.

In response to new UC systemwide directives, UCLA has updated its time, place and manner policies, and those policies were shared with the campus communityearlier this week. Members of the campus now have an opportunity provide feedback on the updated policiesduring a 60-day comment period that ends Nov. 4.

Evaluating and improving

UCLA is committed to continuously improving its policies, protocols and actions, Hunt emphasized, and has undertaken self-assessments that include a review, initiated by the Office of Campus Safety,of the campus's safety protocols and the police response to last spring's events, which will be shared with the Bruin community when it is available. The University of California is also conducting a review of those events. And UCLA's Civil Rights Officeis thoroughly reviewing reports of antisemitism and anti-Arab or Islamophobic discrimination and harassment while continuing its regular enforcement of UC's anti-discrimination policies.

Continuing to rigorously review UCLA's systems and approaches and to make improvements to policies and actions based on those reviews is crucial to meeting the needs of students, faculty and staff and to serving the university's mission, Hunt said. Those efforts, paired with four-point plan's other elements, will make the campus safer and stronger.

"By investing in efforts that advance safety, respect and mutual understanding," Hunt said, "my great hope is that UCLA can continue to be a model of inclusive excellence and a place where every Bruin - regardless of background or identity - is able to thrive."

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