The University of California Board of Regents will meet Wednesday morning to discuss appointing a new chancellor for UCLA.
Current Chancellor Gene Block is expected to retire in July after 17 years.
“As I near the end of my time as UCLA’s chancellor — a role that remains the greatest honor of my professional life — I am filled with many emotions, but above all an overwhelming gratitude for every person who has made the UCLA community so special,” he wrote in a message. “So in closing, I want to simply offer you my thanks.”
The school credited Block for increasing enrollment, guaranteeing housing for undergraduate students, and helping UCLA rise in its rankings.
His retirement comes as he and the university have been criticized for the way they’ve handled pro-Palestinian demonstrators on campus. On Monday, police arrested 25 demonstrators on campus.
In May, 200 people were arrested as officers dismantled a pro-Paletsinian encampment on the campus. Days later, UC faculty and staff called for Block’s resignation.
On May 23, Block and leaders at Rutgers and Northwestern testified before the House Committee on Education and Workforce to discuss their handling of the campus protests. Block told the committee that the school “have been prepared to immediately remove the encampment if and when the safety of our community was put at risk.”
"We've since taken decisive action. I've created a new office of campus safety that reports directly to me,” he added.
Despite Block stepping down as chancellor, he will remain a faculty member and continue his research in the Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences and in the Department of Integrative Biology and Physiology, according to City News Service.
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