A Well-Earned Honor

Campus Update

Chancellor Block sent the following message to the UCLA campus community.

Dear Bruin Community:

While these have been somewhat dark and difficult times for everyone, I wanted to take a moment to share some light in the form of good news: UCLA was just ranked the No. 1 public university in the nation for the fourth year in a row by U.S. News & World Report. Each of you played a role in helping us achieve this recognition and I hope you take pride in the accomplishment.

Even though UCLA is a leader on many fronts and this recognition is a coveted one, we’re not always great at bragging. Bruins are often humble and, when it comes to rankings, I personally have always been uneasy about them: Can anyone truly create an ordinal ranking of such enormously complex and varied institutions as universities? Still, if there were ever a time to feel some satisfaction about how we’ve maintained excellence in the face of significant challenges and to crow a bit more about our achievements, this is it.

To that end, I’d like to share the first in a series of videos featuring Bruins learning the art of the “humblebrag.” To me, it captures the spirit of our pride and humility. I hope you will also share the great news with friends and family members — we’ve assembled a set of Zoom wallpapers and social media graphics that you can use to show your Bruin pride.

This No. 1 ranking is above all an acknowledgement of the meaningful work each of us has put in over the past few years. Let’s take a moment to enjoy it, because we’ve certainly earned it.

Sincerely,