Dear Bruin Community:

Over the course of the first week of the fall term, several Zoom classes and online community spaces were disrupted by individuals using racist, anti-Black, anti-Semitic, homophobic, transphobic, xenophobic and other hateful and discriminatory language.

“Zoom bombing” attacks like these are antithetical to our campus values and an affront to the dignity of those at UCLA. We strongly condemn these disruptions, which have no place at our institution and are especially odious during a time of heightened stress. We are closely looking into each reported incident so that we can take appropriate action against those responsible. UCLA Counseling and Psychological Services and the Office of the Dean of Students are providing support to students who witnessed and were subjected to the attacks.

While the campus has adopted practices to protect against Zoom bombing, including modifying default Zoom system settings to prioritize privacy and security and providing Zoom lecture assistants to help instructors manage large courses, we recognize that more must be done. We are exploring additional security measures based on what we have learned from these disruptions. We also encourage instructors and other Zoom meeting hosts to review instructions on how to create a more secure Zoom session and what to do if a meeting is disrupted. Students who experience a bias-related Zoom bombing incident should report it using our bias reporting form.

UCLA is committed to creating a learning environment that rejects prejudice and safeguards the value and dignity of every member of our community. Thank you for your collaboration as we work to meet this important goal.

Sincerely,

Michael Beck
Administrative Vice Chancellor

Anna Spain Bradley
Vice Chancellor, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion

Monroe Gorden, Jr.
Vice Chancellor, Student Affairs

Shane White
Chair, UCLA Academic Senate