UCLA School of Public Health
* The mission of the University of California is to serve the people of California through relevant academic programs. Chancellor Charles Young and Vice Chancellor Andrea Rich seem to have forgotten this mission when they ordered the disestablishment of the Schools of Public Health, Social Welfare, and Urban Planning and Architecture, each among the finest in the country (June 4). Though these schools generate relatively little endowments by the very nature of their programs, missions and graduates, they provide the most direct service to the people of Los Angeles, especially to minority groups and the most vulnerable in society. The endowments for these schools are low precisely because their graduates go into low-paying jobs that provide direct, urgently needed service to the Los Angeles community.
The decision of the chancellor will leave Los Angeles with no school of public health while every other major city in the United States has at least one school of public health. Yet Los Angeles is the second largest city in the U.S., the city with the greatest ethnic diversity and one of the largest migrant populations. In addition, Los Angeles has the most severe air pollution problem in the country and a significant water pollution problem. Los Angeles needs competent public health professionals now more than ever as we face a major restructuring of the health care system and increasing pollution of our environment. The chancellor’s action will leave Los Angeles without the academic resources to meet that urgent need.
Young apparently does not recognize the social responsibility of UCLA to the community that supports it. He appears to be more concerned about the generation of endowment funds for the university than with serving the needs of the people of Los Angeles. Thus, he is willing to abandon the people of Los Angeles and Southern California. We hope that the people of Los Angeles will remind him strongly of the responsibility of UCLA to serve the community rather than abandon it when the going gets tough!
ROGER DETELS MD, President
International Epidemiological Assn.,
Dean Emeritus, UCLA School
of Public Health
Start your day right
Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
