This year has seen a series of trials and tribulations on a global scale.
The COVID-19 pandemic has given way to a new, socially distanced world that has changed our way of life.

UCLA’s student government has taken steps to elevate underrepresented voices.
And frankly, it’s more than the University of California could be doing.
The Undergraduate Students Association Council Office of the President announced a new Congressional Advisory Board composed of student organizations and advocacy groups to review USAC’s surplus allocations, introduce joint resolutions with the council and address USAC on issues concerning its member organizations.

UCLA’s projected plan to increase its UCPD budget by more than $500,000 this year despite clear opposing demands from students defies logic.
This increased funding comes amid protests calling to defund police over numerous complaints of police use of force against people of color, calls to increase funds for community programs, about $1.8 billion in revenue loss as of July to the University of California because of COVID-19 and a pandemic that will limit the number of students on campus.

This post was updated Sept. 7 at 11:15 p.m.
UCLA-affiliated researchers may be pressuring the city to expand tenant protections, but students in graduate and family housing should not expect the university to take its own faculty’s advice.

The COVID-19 pandemic and national demonstrations against the deaths of Black Americans have shed light on the brutal manifestations of systemic racism. Across humanity’s collective history, stories have elevated marginalized voices and breathed life into once broken structures.

History holds the answers to our current and future problems. In order to prevent the harrowing parts from repeating, we must learn about them and actively enact change.

If there’s one thing UCLA administration does, it’s talk.
But when it comes to following through, it seems content to do nothing.
Back in February, Jerry Kang, then-vice chancellor for equity, diversity and inclusion, cut funding for the Bruin Excellence & Student Transformation Grant Program.