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Regents say $7 million campus-climate fund has directed $5.3 million to trainings, mental-health support and surveys
Summary
Regents received an update on $7 million allocated to address campus bias, with $5.3 million spent so far on training, emergency mental-health support, a systemwide campus-climate survey and partnerships with student organizations.
Chair Lieb, chair of the Academic and Student Affairs Committee, told regents that the University of California has allocated $7 million to address bias and bigotry on campuses and that “the impact to date, approximately 5,300,000.0 of the 7,000,000 has already been allocated.”
The money, Lieb said, has funded training for about 20,000 people, emergency mental-health resources for students affected by hate or harassment and a systemwide campus-climate survey done with an external firm. "This investment reflects both an urgent response to meeting our current challenges and a long term strategy for bringing about systemic change," Lieb said.
Why it matters: Regents framed the spend as part of a broader effort to improve safety and inclusion across all 10 UC campuses after a period of elevated incidents of antisemitism and other bias. Committee members said they want clearer reporting on who is filing complaints, how incidents are counted and the quality and timeliness of campus responses.
Provost Richard Newman and committee members described the initiative as multi-pronged. Newman credited work by campus partners and singled out Yvette Galat for her role in the campus-climate work. The presenters said the program has emphasized targeted interventions for Jewish students and other impacted communities and has included collaborations with Hillel and student leadership groups.
Committee members pressed for more data. Regent Brooks asked whether report materials include “the reporting makeup and incidence.” Lieb acknowledged the campus reporting system remains “a work in progress” and said UCLA’s chancellor and an antisemitism task force are examining reporting processes that could serve as a model systemwide. She said one operational change under review is tightening response timelines to 30 days and improving the substantive quality of responses to complainants.
Officials described the mental-health support component as emergency services for students traumatized after October 7 and said that other programming is intended to create sustainable campus-specific and systemwide structures that “offer protections and uphold both civil rights and free expression.”
Next steps: Lieb said she will put the item back on the committee’s November agenda with a clearer report on reporting flows, response quality and any proposed changes to the campus reporting system. She also invited possible one-on-one briefings for regents who want more detail.
Ending: Regents did not take formal votes on new policy in the discussion. They asked staff to return with a report in November that will include more detail on incident reporting, response timelines and measures of program effectiveness.
