UCLA recently spearheaded two “Sustainable Move Out” events, aiming to reduce waste and bolster sustainability efforts. The initiative saw collaboration with over a dozen partners, including the office of Los Angeles City Councilwoman Katy Yaroslavsky, L.A. Sanitation, Athens Services, the UCLA Thrift Shop, and St. Joseph Center to facilitate the sustainable disposal and re-use of items ranging from furniture and housewares to clothing and books. With dedicated drop-off locations and partnerships with various campus units, the initiative diverted these items from landfills. Volunteers, student organizations, and nonprofit partners also joined the effort, demonstrating broad support for promoting sustainability. Looking
ahead, organizers plan to expand the program by involving more campus and non-campus partners, considering alternative sites and dates, and accommodating students' schedules more effectively. This project showcases the university's commitment to sustainability and sets up future collaborative efforts in waste reduction and environmental conservation.
“First Thursdays” — a UCLA event series that brings pedestrian-friendly Broxton Avenue alive — is rekindling the storied L.A. neighborhood’s old magic.
UCLA’s Congo Basin Institute is out to definitively map the African rainforests, a mission that could revolutionize climate science — and just maybe save the planet.
In May, The Promise Institute for Human Rights at UCLA School of Law partnered with the Aurora Humanitarian Initiative to co-host the 2024 Aurora Prize ceremony in Los Angeles. More than 600 attendees from around the world gathered at UCLA to honor individuals working on the front lines of addressing human rights crises globally. The Aurora Prize for Awakening Humanity, established by Armenian Genocide survivors, recognizes humanitarians and rights defenders with a $1-million prize to support their work. UCLA Law Dean Michael Waterstone emphasized the institution's commitment to justice, while the former U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, Zeid bin Ra’ad Al Hussein, delivered a keynote on rising autocracy and democracy
decline. The awards ceremony recognized Dr. Denis Mukwege as the 2024 Aurora Prize Laureate for his outstanding work in treating survivors of sexual violence in conflict in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The collaboration aimed to raise awareness of individuals' extraordinary efforts in advancing human rights and humanitarian work and to inspire others to do the same.
Antonia Hernández, an influential UCLA alumna, was recently awarded the prestigious UCLA Medal for her remarkable contributions to civil rights, justice, and equality. Born in Mexico and raised in East Los Angeles, she dedicated her life to fighting for social justice and equality. From advocating for reproductive rights to her groundbreaking work on voting rights and immigration, Hernández's impact has been profound. As the first Latina to serve as staff counsel to the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee, and later as president and general counsel of MALDEF, she has continually pushed for positive change. Her legacy of leadership and inspiration serves as a testament to the power of education and the pursuit of a better
future for all.
The Rev. James Lawson Jr., an influential leader in the civil rights movement and a prominent UCLA faculty member, passed away at the age of 95. He was a recognized and historic figure in teaching nonviolent activism and resistance tactics to young activists and played a pivotal role in various significant civil rights efforts during the 1960s. His approach inspired Martin Luther King Jr., the late U.S. Representative John Lewis, and many others. After relocating to Los Angeles, Lawson devoted his work to the region's labor movement through his leadership and teaching, leaving a legacy that continues to inspire social justice activists and UCLA's community. His remarkable contributions were acknowledged with the award of the UCLA Medal
in 2018 and the dedication of the UCLA James Lawson Jr. Worker Justice Center in 2021.
Brija Johnson, executive director of UCLA Ventures, plays a crucial role in commercializing UCLA's innovations and expanding the university’s service to the community. She prioritizes supporting entrepreneurs from underrepresented communities and has launched the Bruin Founders program, which will offer aspiring entrepreneurs and innovators guidance from mentors and support from alumni and affiliates. By inspiring the next generation of Bruin entrepreneurs, Johnson's initiatives align with UCLA's Strategic Plan, whose goals include deepening the university’s engagement with Los Angeles.
A white paper by UCLA social welfare professor Laura Wray-Lake, identifies policy barriers that keep young citizens from voting and offers recommendations for building a more inclusive democracy in California. The paper won a competition sponsored by the UC Center Sacramento that recognizes UC scholarship that can “stimulate multidisciplinary evidence synthesis and creative problem solving.” Wray-Lake and her team of researchers, including a post-doctoral scholar and three UCLA undergraduates, presented their findings at a public lecture in May. The team found that although California has laws promoting ease of access to registering and voting, more can be done to maximize participation by younger voters. Among the
recommended policies is the designation of high schools as official voter registration agencies to bring young voters to the ballot box.
A recently published study in the Journal of Criminal Justice sheds light on juvenile lifers — those who were given juvenile life without parole (JLWOP) sentences in the United States. The study, led by Laura Abrams, a professor of social welfare at UCLA, provides a comprehensive national tracking effort of the JLWOP population. It offers insights into resentencing and release, as well as other key outcomes such as mortality and exonerations. Funded by Arnold Ventures, the research supports safe and equitable sentencing and second-look policies for individuals sentenced to life for crimes committed before they turned 18. The researchers highlight the human rights issue of sentencing minors to life without parole in the U.S.,
emphasizing the need for policy reform. The next step is to develop a survey tool to reach the 2,900 individuals found, of which roughly 1,800 are still incarcerated.
Launched in 2022, the Tenant Power Toolkit (TPT) is a free online application that assists California tenants facing eviction take the first step in the legal process to remain in their homes. This includes the Answer-Unlawful Detainer, request for a jury trial, and application for a waiver of hundreds of dollars in court filing fees. Tenants or advocates can use this toolkit by simply answering questions linked on the website. The TPT app will then take the information submitted by the tenant and cross references all statewide and local laws governing evictions in the tenant’s jurisdiction. The online application is currently available in English and Spanish, and will be adding four more languages in Fall 2024.
The Tenant Power Toolkit is a collaborative effort of Debt Collective, L.A. Tenants Union, the Anti-Eviction Mapping Project, UCLA Luskin Institute on Inequality & Democracy, Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment Action, Movement Legal Services, and UCLA Professor of Law Emeritus Gary Blasi, a housing justice lawyer.
Chemical reactions aided by electricity are crucial in producing various everyday products and are involved in powering electronics, vehicles, and medical devices. Efforts to develop better catalysts, such as copper, to drive these reactions have faced challenges due to a lack of understanding of what occurs during the reactions. A recent collaboration between the California NanoSystems Institute at UCLA and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory has led to a breakthrough. Their study, published in Nature, used a specially designed electrochemical cell to observe the atomic details of a copper catalyst during a reaction that breaks down carbon dioxide, potentially offering a way to recycle the greenhouse gas. This discovery could lead to
the development of more efficient catalysts for electrochemical processes, with implications for sustainability energy research and everyday applications. The research was funded by the Department of Energy and conducted at the Molecular Foundry at Berkeley Lab.
Despite facing numerous challenges, UCLA's class of 2024 triumphed as they celebrated their graduation. The cohort, whose high school graduation ceremonies were affected by the pandemic, demonstrated resilience as they gathered inside Pauley Pavilion for three commencement ceremonies. With approximately 6,700 graduating seniors and over 26,000 guests in attendance, the atmosphere was filled with joy and jubilation.
The UCLA nurse practitioner master's program, in collaboration with the Homeless Healthcare Collaborative, provides valuable rotations for students, offering a broad scope of medical practice and grounding the next generation of health leaders in health equity. This nontraditional care model exposes students to different types of care outside traditional healthcare settings. The collaborative, which operates five vans and offers rotations to a limited number of students, provides crucial health services to people experiencing homelessness in Los Angeles County. Through those rotations, students gain a broad scope of medical practice, including pediatrics, women's health, mental health, and acute care. Additionally, the collaboration
places nursing students in close contact with physicians and exposes them to marginalized individuals with varied, and often serious, health conditions.
UCLA Health’s LGTBQ+ Champions initiative helps people across Los Angeles find physicians who have specialized training and experience caring for LGBTQ+ patients.
A recent study conducted by UCLA Health and the U.S. Veterans Affairs Office discovered that a newly developed psychotherapy, known as emotional awareness and expression therapy (EAET), yielded significant reduction in chronic pain among older veterans when compared to traditional cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT). The study showed that 63% of veterans undergoing EAET reported at least a 30% reduction in pain compared to only 17% of those undergoing CBT. EAET also demonstrated greater benefits in addressing mental health symptoms such as anxiety, depression, PTSD, and life satisfaction. Lead author Brandon Yarns highlighted the effectiveness of psychotherapy in treating chronic pain suggests the importance of considering alternative
therapies in addition to traditional medical interventions for pain management.
