UCLA students riot over delayed response from campus leaders and cancellation of classes amid wildfires
Former Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva discusses the local response to California’s ‘devastating’ wildfires on ‘The Big Money Show.’
Students at the University of California, Los Angeles campus took to TikTok to loudly criticize and scrutinize the school’s leadership over delays in responding to potential safety threats from the devastating wildfires.
It was only on Wednesday evening that Chancellor Julio Frenk announced that UCLA would limit campus operationscancel undergraduate classes and move graduate classes remotely on Thursday and Friday in light of multiple wildfires in the area.
As of early Thursday, at least five people were dead and more than 28,000 acres had burned as residents and UCLA students watched the flames spread.
“UCLA? More like the university could care less about (their students’ lungs),” TikToker @negativesmart wrote while filming a bright red smoke-filled sky from their supposed dorm room.
“LA may be burning, but don’t worry, UCLA says everything is back to normal,” another TikTok video by @ayiana.scott said, which has been viewed more than a million times.
UCLA students on TikTok were unhappy with campus leaders’ delayed decision to curtail work and cancel classes Thursday and Friday. (Getty Images)
Additional videos posted to the social platform by users @jiwonapieceofme and @chelsealstone have received hundreds of thousands of views and show the close-up reality of the campus fire, with captions such as: “Hey UCLA, [what do you mean] I still have class??!!??” and “Hey UCLA, just wondering if I should plan on going to my class tomorrow morning?”
The university’s chancellor said in his letter announcing the temporary closures: “While there is no immediate fire threat to our campus, given the expected change in wind patterns in the hours ahead, it is likely that air quality in Westwood will deteriorate. “
“POV: Evacuation [because] UCLA took back their words just hours after they claimed we were ‘safe,'” one student with the handle @kennedyhayashi filmed as she packed her bags and faced long lines of traffic with others evacuating campus too.
As the sun barely peeked through a black, smoky, daytime sky, TikToker @eireneding provided a comparison of “UCLA claiming everything is fine [versus] all the students are freaking out,” and included a weather forecast about “unhealthy” air quality.
Fox Business’ Lisa Kennedy discusses the latest on California’s devastating wildfires in Los Angeles County on ‘The Bottom Line.’
“We will continue to monitor conditions in the area and are prepared to make further adjustments to campus operations if necessary,” UCLA’s chancellor wrote in his letter Wednesday night. “Any changes to classes after the next two days will be determined in cooperation with the Academic Senate, and we will immediately share them via BruinALERT with our community.”
UCLA employees have been told to coordinate with supervisors if they can work remotely, but health facilities will remain open and fully operational Thursday and Friday.
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CRMBC CEO and insurance industry expert Kaya Stanley explains that there is no government surplus to cover the ‘catastrophic’ economic losses associated with the Los Angeles fires.
However, students’ TikTok videos — and comments reacting to the video — prior to Frank’s official announcement that he would cut campus operations show stark disagreement with the late decision:
“The fact that UCLA did not cancel all courses is so irresponsible”; “I wish UCLA employees had the same opportunity. We still do [forced] go to work”; “I’ve been told my whole life that UCLA is an amazing school, but they just disrespect their students non-stop.”
