Chancellor Gene Block and Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost Emily Carter sent a message about the progress UCLA is making toward creating a more equitable campus environment.
In June, we announced a number of central campus initiatives designed to advance equity across UCLA and to nurture an environment that honors the lives, intellect, experience and aspirations of Black Bruins in particular. These efforts are core to UCLA’s mission and we write today to share some of the progress we have made and some of the new initiatives we are undertaking.
- Establishing a Black Resource Center for students in the center of campus. The center will offer services remotely this term while the physical space is developed. Student Affairs is collaborating closely with students on the center’s programmatic design.
- Expanding the intellectual community devoted to Black life and racial equity. The Ralph J. Bunche Center for African American Studies will support five UCLA Chancellor’s Postdoctoral Fellows across a broad set of academic disciplines through the UC President’s Postdoctoral Fellowship Program. Beginning in 2021, the Bunche Center will facilitate awarding 10 summer graduate fellowships for research, teaching and service tied to Black life.
- Creating a director of development position to maximize philanthropic support for Black life, teaching and research.The search process is underway for a development professional who will collaborate with departments and programs across campus to develop a cohesive fundraising strategy and leverage partnerships to support Black excellence at UCLA.
- Establishing the Civil Rights Office within the Office of Equity, Diversity and Inclusion. Once in place, the Civil Rights Office will coordinate all civil rights investigations involving faculty and staff and will be a leader in preventing discrimination on campus.
- Launching the Campus Honorary Naming Advisory Committee. Composed of a broad set of campus stakeholders, this new committee will conduct a review of buildings and other physical spaces with generic names on the UCLA campus, and make recommendations for how we might name certain such spaces after deserving individuals and groups from UCLA’s history.
- Dedicating additional resources in the Office of Strategic Communications. We are enhancing efforts to seek out and create compelling ways to share these stories and shine a light on the experiences of communities of color at UCLA.
