November 17, 2014

Dear UC Santa Barbara Community Members and Friends,

Throughout the summer and fall quarters, our University has come together to address many issues associated with Isla Vista, focusing on safety and other opportunities to enhance the Isla Vista community. The safe and uneventful Halloween weekend two weeks ago illustrates that we continue to make progress toward our goal. In fact, there was a notable drop of almost 70 percent in the number of arrests and citations during the Halloween weekend when compared to the previous year. Our students have played important roles, as have many members of our faculty, staff, administrators, and our UC Police. We are extremely appreciative of our ongoing partnerships with the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office, the District Attorney, the County of Santa Barbara, the cities of Goleta and Santa Barbara, our local and state elected officials, and many of the local businesses. I am also deeply grateful for the ongoing support of our Trustees, alumni, and friends, so many of whom have contributed their time and often their financial support to help us achieve our goals. Our UC Santa Barbara Foundation Trustees, in particular, made a special contribution by forming an Advisory Committee on Isla Vista Strategies to objectively analyze the situation and make recommendations to the University and other stakeholders.

The Committee, operating independently from the University, spent the last five months studying Isla Vista and its relationship to UC Santa Barbara and the surrounding communities. The Trustees’ group held over 120 meetings and met with various stakeholders from across the Santa Barbara community, including the University, Santa Barbara City College, long-term Isla Vista residents and landlords, and local elected officials. I am indebted to our dedicated Trustees for the time and energy they devote to our University and the Isla Vista community, and for their timely report and thoughtful recommendations.

I am pleased to share the result of their work with our UC Santa Barbara community. The report and our campus news release are posted online.

I have asked the co-chairs of the Chancellor’s Coordinating Committee on Isla Vista, Executive Vice Chancellor David Marshall and our Academic Senate Chair, Professor Kum-Kum Bhavnani, to bring the report to the Committee for review so it can help to inform our University’s ongoing planning process. We already have taken quite a number of actions consistent with the report’s recommendations, highlighted in my previous letters.

We are also sharing the Trustees’ work with local government officials and our partners in the community, as many of the recommendations will require further review and action outside the jurisdiction of the University.

Although we have made meaningful progress, much work remains ahead if we are to realize our goals of transforming the living and learning environment for our students in Isla Vista and helping to create a safe and thriving community for all residents. We remain strongly committed to working closely with the residents of Isla Vista, property owners, local businesses, and local and state government agencies to help take steps that will benefit everyone.

Thank you,

Henry T. Yang
Chancellor

 

Trustees' Report: http://issuu.com/ucsantabarbara/docs/trusteesreport?e=14264465/10190599

Trustee’s Report (PDF Format): http://www.ia.ucsb.edu/ucsb-foundation/pdfs/TrusteesReport.pdf