Campus climate

Dear UC Irvine Community,

In a normal academic year, we would now be celebrating faculty accomplishments, wishing our students well on their final exams, and congratulating our graduates on their achievements. However, this year has been far from normal. In light of recent global and local events, we are deeply concerned about the distress experienced by some members of our community.

During our academic and administrative careers, we have never before witnessed such despicable targeted personal attacks. Our university’s sense of community is in danger of being lost. The university’s Principles of Community are clear – we are committed to fostering an environment of mutual respect and diversity of opinion. These principles also explicitly state that acts of abusive behavior will not go unaddressed within our university.

During the encampment protests, the Chancellor denounced the assaults on the academic freedom of our faculty and condemned efforts to silence or marginalize voices on this campus that disagreed with the protesters' views. While the encampment has ended, the efforts to silence and marginalize continue. In the weeks since, we have seen red paint splattered on the doors of Israeli faculty, the doxxing of faculty and researchers whose work is supported by the Department of Defense or not aligned with the BDS movement, and "wanted" style posters targeting a Jewish faculty member.

Let us be clear: these activities are unacceptable and inconsistent with the foundational principles of UC Irvine. People who attend a university in a free society must be tolerant of diverse viewpoints.

While we cannot force people to stop their bullying, intimidation, and silencing tactics, we can assert that this campus will resist these efforts. We urge all faculty, staff and students to help end targeted intimidation within our community by reporting incidents of hate and notifying authorities when witnessing crimes and violations of university policies.

Please show your support for all those members of our community who have been unjustly drawn into this situation. Let us work together to restore the norms that allow us to do our work as a university. If we do not protect and nurture these norms, and stand against those who seek adherence only to their views, we will lose the capacity to educate our students, freely conduct research, and serve the public.

Any member of our campus community who has experienced discrimination or harassment should report them to the Office of Equal Opportunity and Diversity for assistance. Additionally, more general bias, intolerance, and campus climate concerns can be reported through the University’s campus climate reporting hotline.

Sincerely,

Chancellor Howard Gillman

Provost and Executive Vice Chancellor Hal Stern

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If you find yourself in need of assistance or someone to speak with, please do not hesitate to reach out to the following resources:

• UCI Counseling Center for undergraduates and graduate students
• Life Resources Program for faculty and staff