Events on Campus

CLA Chancellor Gene Block, who has been chancellor of UCLA since 2007, will retire at the end of the 2023-2024 academic year. Block received a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Stanford University and also earned a master’s and doctorate degree in psychology from the University of Oregon. He will remain at UCLA to research biological timing as a faculty member. Prior to coming to UCLA, Block spent 29 years at the University of Virginia, serving as vice president and provost, vice president for research and public service and founding director of the National Science Foundation Science and Technology Center in Biological Timing. The UC O ce of the President will soon launch a national search for the campus’s next chancellor.

There’s a new app called DownTo marketed by two students that allow Bruins to connect across campus and Westwood. DownTo is a location-based social media platform that notifies users when their friends are in the same area as they are. Drona Sharma, a lead UCLA ambassador of the app, said there are currently around 2,000 active users with about 16,000 downloads. Starting in the fall, individuals can use the app to make plans such as studying or eating with friends and other users, according to Sanjum Dhaliwal, the other lead UCLA ambassador of the app. The app also features group chats for di erent campus buildings and other places in Westwood such as Rocco’s Tavern. Individuals in the area will automatically be added to the group chat by the app. Additionally, the app is being launched at 40 colleges across the United States and Canada.