UCLA Chancellor To Testify Before Congress After Campus Police Chief Is Reassigned

UCLA Chancellor Gene Block is set to testify before Congress Thursday morning about antisemitism on college campuses.

He’ll appear before the House of Representatives Committee on Education and the Workforce along with the presidents of Northwestern and Rutgers universities for a hearing titled “Calling for Accountability: Stopping Antisemitic College Chaos.”

The testimony comes after the university announced Wednesday that campus Chief of Police John Thomas has been temporarily reassigned pending an examination of UCLA’s security processes in the wake of a mob attacking a pro-Palestine encampment on campus weeks ago.

About the hearing

In a message to the UCLA campus community, Block wrote that accountability is critical to moving forward and he will speak honestly, and personally, about the challenges the university faces.

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Block added that he will continue to insist that antisemitism, Islamophobia, anti-Arab hate, and any form of discrimination not be tolerated.

Committee Chair Virginia Foxx said in a statement that the committee has a clear message for “mealy-mouthed, spineless college leaders.”

“Congress will not tolerate your dereliction of your duty to your Jewish students,” Foxx said in a statement. “No stone must go unturned while buildings are being defaced, campus greens are being captured, or graduations are being ruined. College is not a park for playacting juveniles or a battleground for radical activists. Everyone affiliated with these universities will receive a healthy dose of reality: actions have consequences.”

You can watch the hearing here at 6:45 a.m. PT.

Campus security

UCLA confirmed in a statement that Thomas was temporarily reassigned earlier this week as the university conducts a thorough investigation aimed at improving safety for the campus community.

Block announced on May 5 that he’d immediately be moving the oversight of UCLA police and the Office of Emergency Management to the newly formed Office of Campus Safety, whose leader, Rick Braziel, reports directly to the chancellor.

Mary Osako, vice chancellor for UCLA Strategic Communications, confirmed in a statement that the Office of Campus Safety is leading the security examination.

Gawin Gibson, who was UCLA PD’s captain of the operations bureau, stepped in as acting chief of police on Tuesday.

How we got here

Block has faced criticism for how the campus encampment and protests against the war in Gaza were handled earlier this month.

Two hundred people, including about 10 staff, were arrested by hundreds of law enforcement officers in riot gear after the encampment was violently attacked by counterprotesters, leading to more than a dozen injuries.

Block ended up surviving a vote of no confidence and a censure resolution from the UCLA Academic Senate last Friday. Both moves looked to address his leadership throughout the campus protests.

UCLA announced last August that Block is set to retire July 31 after 17 years as chancellor.