President Michael V. Drake, M.D., issued the letter below to the University of California community on Monday, Aug. 19, 2024.
Dear UC community,
As the 2024-25 academic year begins on our campuses over the next few days and weeks, I want to share a few updates about our work this summer to ensure a safe, inclusive campus climate that fosters a free exchange of ideas across the University of California.
Freedom to express diverse viewpoints is fundamental to the mission of the University, and lawful protests play a pivotal role in that process. The Free Speech Movement was born at the University of California. We are proud to uphold that tradition today. We make every effort to nurture free expression, and we provide countless opportunities and venues for our students, faculty, other academic appointees, and staff to safely and lawfully share their diverse viewpoints and beliefs. While the vast majority of protests held on our campuses are peaceful and nonviolent, some of the activities we saw this past year were not.
My office and campus leaders have spent the summer reflecting with students, faculty, staff, Regents, and others on the events of the past year. We have sought to identify ways we can strengthen and clarify our policies and procedures together. Clear communication and consistent application of policies and laws are key to achieving the delicate but essential balance between free speech rights and the need to protect the safety of our community and maintain critical University operations.
With these goals in mind, we will take several steps to facilitate more consistency across our locations, including:
- Clarifying and reinforcing requirements for policies impacting expressive activities, including policies that prohibit camping or encampments, unauthorized structures, restrictions on free movement, masking to conceal identity, and refusing to reveal one’s identity when asked to do so by University personnel;
- Developing a framework for consistent implementation of our policies and for consistent responses to policy violations;
- Issuing guidance for notifications about campus climate resources and policies, in response to the California State Budget Bill; and
- Launching a UC Campus Climate Initiative to help all UC locations develop campus climate action plans for fall 2024 and beyond.
Some of this work has already begun, and you will hear more about it from your campus leadership in the coming weeks. Our ultimate goal is for all of our community members to feel supported in their ability to express themselves, and to pursue their studies, research, patient care, and other work on our campuses. We also want our community members to understand what’s expected of them, including a clear understanding of the principles, policies, and laws that govern our behavior on campus.
We appreciate the input we’ve received from our students, faculty, and staff representatives and many others on these issues — it has informed our approach and will help us achieve an even more inclusive, engaged, and productive UC community. Thank you in advance for your participation in this effort, and we wish you an outstanding academic year.
Sincerely,
Michael V. Drake, M.D.
President, University of California