BruinCards will no longer include students’ legal names on back

In a move that demonstrates UCLA’s commitment to greater inclusiveness, the “legal name” field has been removed from the back of UCLA BruinCards. Students with a registered preferred first name will no longer have a legal name printed on the back of their BruinCards, and their preferred first name and legal last name will continue to appear on the front of the card.

This change follows years of discussion and advocacy on behalf of UCLA students, staff and faculty, including members of Transgender UCLA Pride, Queer Alliance, the committee on LGBTQ affairs, the office of the dean of students, the University of California Police Department, campus counsel, BruinCard Center, the undocumented students program and the UCLA LGBT Campus Resource Center.

This change took effect Nov. 4.

There is no requirement for students to have their existing BruinCards reissued. However, the BruinCard Center is providing one free card exchange for students with a registered preferred first name who wish to update their current BruinCard to the new format. The exchange is redeemable until Monday, June 1.

At this time, preferred first name printing is not available for all student BruinCard holders or formats. For example, the feature is currently unavailable for students with a medical BruinCard. Additionally, the format change may prevent BruinCard from serving as identification for human resources onboarding processes, such as completing the I-9 form.

More information can be found on this BruinCard FAQ.

In a message to the campus community, Gregg Goldman, vice chancellor and chief financial officer; Jerry Kang, vice chancellor for equity, diversity and inclusion; and Monroe Gorden, Jr., vice chancellor for student affairs, thanked students, staff and faculty who worked on this effort.

“This change uplifts the identities of all students who go by a name other than their legal one, such as transgender and nonbinary students and international students, creating a more inclusive and affirming campus community,” they wrote in their email to campus.