Our Commitment to Shared Governance
Dear Colleagues:
I want to begin by acknowledging something that is plain to all of us: there is meaningful concern among our faculty about the direction of UCLA’s leadership, including my own. The recent Academic Senate survey underscored this reality with clarity. I take those results seriously. They are not easy to read, but they are essential to confront directly if we are to move forward together.
I have spent most of my professional life associated with UCLA. This institution is not just where I work — it has been central to my intellectual journey and identity. That is why I care so deeply about how we respond to the moment we are in.
The truth is that UCLA, like all of higher education, is operating in a chaotic and increasingly hostile environment — marked by declining public trust, political encroachment on academic freedom, constrained budgets, and heightened tensions around speech and inclusion. These external forces pose a common threat to our shared mission and to the ideals that have long defined this university. The rest of senior leadership and I have worked hard to manage these overlapping pressures in ways that protect UCLA’s core mission and standing as one of the world’s leading public research universities, which includes our ongoing engagement with the Academic Senate.
At the same time, I recognize that the pace and style of decision-making have sometimes left colleagues feeling unheard or excluded. If our processes have seemed opaque or insufficiently consultative, we must repair that together. Shared governance is not ornamental — it is the backbone of UCLA’s identity, and it must be strengthened, not eroded, during times of turbulence.
Going forward, I am committed to several concrete steps:
• Enhanced consultation: Working with Senate leadership to develop new, more nimble models for Senate consultation prior to major administrative decisions.
• Greater transparency: Developing shared dashboards and regular reports on financial and administrative priorities.
• Values in action: Reaffirming UCLA’s commitment to academic freedom, inclusion, and the primacy of teaching, research, and service in every decision we make.
One thing I’m looking forward to most immediately is the launch of our True Bruin Values refresh project. Following a year of surveys and dialogue, we’re engaging in an additional year of input, feedback and engagement to collaboratively define our values. You will hear more about this next week.
We will not always agree on every decision, but we share something more powerful than our differences — a deep commitment to UCLA’s mission and to the principles that make this university an enduring force for public good. In the face of the challenges ahead, it is in all our best interests to stand together, work collaboratively, and move forward with clarity of purpose and mutual respect.
If we meet this moment together, with candor and courage, we can not only sustain UCLA’s excellence but also reaffirm the values that have defined it for generations.
With humility and respect,
Darnell Hunt
Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost