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Editorial: UCLA’s hesitancy toward remote classes amid LA fires fails to prioritize community

By Editorial Board

Jan. 12, 2025 2:10 p.m.

This post was updated Jan. 12 at 11 p.m.

Fires raging across Los Angeles County have revealed UCLA’s lack of readiness and misaligned priorities, leaving students in the dark and forced to find help outside Westwood during the crisis at hand. 

On Tuesday, Jan. 7, the Palisades and Altadena fires erupted amid unprecedented wind storms, first affecting the Pacific Palisades and Altadena communities. They have since expanded with alarming speed to surrounding areas such as Brentwood and Encino.

The fires have devastated over 37,000 acres in LA County, laying waste to homes, schools and livelihoods. UCLA students from LA County have lost their homes, and many worry about the fires’ proximity to UCLA and the dangerous concoction of smoke and other air pollutants that has periodically engulfed the LA Basin.

The UCLA Academic Senate motioned last Wednesday for classes to be canceled for undergraduate students and held remotely for graduate students for the remainder of week one. UCLA Chancellor Julio Frenk said Friday that classes Monday would be held remotely, and it was not until Saturday afternoon that he announced the entirety of week two would continue online.

In the meantime, many students had evacuated campus and surrounding areas with ash raining from the sky and weather reports expecting wind speeds to ramp up in the coming days.

Nevertheless, many students remain on campus and are uncertain of their next steps, calling into question the slow response times and lack of transparency of the UCLA administration amid this crisis. 

The university’s initial day-by-day approach to the fires provoked a great deal of ire largely because of the uncertainty it brought for many students who faced and still face the decision of whether to evacuate. 

Maintaining normal operations Wednesday before taking a piecemeal approach to canceling classes over the next several days could only make that decision more difficult for community members grappling with the horrific reality of the past few days and the very dire possibilities that may still lay ahead. 

That the administration ultimately did make the move to online classes through the quarter’s second week that many were clamoring for is something to be appreciated. The fact it only came after a petition signed by thousands and concerted pressure from the Undergraduate Students Association Council, however, is less than ideal.

We do not know the full impacts of the wildfires now; we will not know for many months to come. But we must recognize the unconscionable scale of the devastation that so many face today in LA. The need for people to reckon with the loss and trauma of this disaster trumps everything else, including the university’s academic mission. 

We only hope UCLA’s old and new administrators will keep the value of compassion in mind as this city sifts through the aftermath of this catastrophe. 

The fires have been revealing in showing the poor level of preparedness of many institutions in LA. 

Reports of fire hydrants running dry in fire-stricken areas, the accidental transmission of an evacuation warning to all of LA County and the open conflict between the LA mayor’s office and the city’s fire department over funding levels have dramatically harmed public perception of the fire response.

Infrequent but notable instances of dysfunction have made some lose faith in the official response to the disaster. If the city’s institutions, UCLA among them, want us to lend our trust, they need to make sustained efforts to earn it. 

The Palisades and Altadena fires didn’t start until Tuesday, leaving a limited window for the UCLA Academic Senate to make a calculated decision on whether to cancel classes. The resulting time constraint created uncertainty, in turn causing confusion and frustration among students and professors.

That ambiguity forced students and professors to choose between academics and prioritizing their mental and physical health – a dilemma the academic body, in its assigned leadership role, could have prevented.

Thursday and Friday in-person classes weren’t canceled until 6:30 p.m. Wednesday night – after students already took the initiative to evacuate campus.

The indecision extended into the weekend, when the university’s delay in moving classes to a remote format through the rest of the week forced many students – especially those whose families live far from campus – to make difficult and potentially costly decisions about whether to buy return flights.

A lack of timely information and decisive action forced students and staff to make rushed and potentially dangerous executive decisions, resulting in unnecessary stress, wasted time and financial burdens.

Students still on campus must now become the executor in their decision making. In the case of an evacuation, UCLA Housing suggests that students “pack essential items into a single bag or suitcase” that can be easily carried.

This means identification – birth certificates, licenses, passports, green cards, international documentation – electronics and other valuables, toiletries, hygiene products and a week’s worth of clothes maximum.

In this time of uncertainty, it is crucial for UCLA students to support one another and strengthen our campus community. This means checking in on friends and neighbors, sharing up-to-date information and offering assistance to those who may need it during an evacuation. 

By working together and looking out for each other, we can ensure the safety and well-being of everyone in the UCLA community.

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