How UCLA Came Together After a Day of Tragedy

Campus Update

In a message to the campus community, Chancellor Block thanks the police and shares plans to review emergency response on campus.

As the academic year draws to a close, our usual celebratory spirit is dampened by our sadness about the tragic loss of Professor William Klug. My deepest thanks to the thousands of you who attended a vigil, wrote a note or tribute, reached out to others, and extended yourself to help our community begin to heal.

We are grateful to the officers of the UCLA Police Department and Los Angeles Police Department for their quick and effective response, with assistance from many other local police jurisdictions. Please thank our officers when you see them on campus.

I also want to acknowledge the dean, faculty, staff and students of the Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Science, who showed courage and quick thinking when faced with a crisis, as well as tremendous caring and generosity of spirit in the aftermath.

UCLA has devoted considerable attention to crisis and disaster preparedness in recent years, including conducting active shooter drills. As a result, we were able to respond to last week’s events effectively. We now must carefully study our actions and reactions to determine what more we can do to protect our community from violence.

Administrative Vice Chancellor Michael Beck has already launched a security analysis, and at my request he is convening a task force to ensure that we act upon lessons learned last week.

While the review will examine every aspect of the university’s response to last week’s tragedy, it will closely focus on a number of issues, including the swift and efficient emergency notification of all members of the Bruin community as well as the questions raised about classroom security and door locks. We will also be closely examining ways to better educate the Bruin community on how to respond to a possible active shooter.

I will keep you informed about the outcomes of this process.

  • Gene D. BlockChancellor