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UCLA students can now choose to print a preferred names on their BruinCards, the university's student ID. The initiative began over the summer and is in full effect for all new and returning students.
As reported by the Daily Bruin, preferred names will be prominently printed on the front of student IDs, while the legal names will still be printed on the back of the cards in accordance with university police policies. UCLA's Undergraduate Students Association Council does, however, have plans to work with relevant campus offices to remove students’ legal names from the BruinCard altogether.
The student council plans to meet with university police officials next month to discuss ways in student university ID numbers can act as the primary form of identification and comply with police policies.
New students to campus this summer were the first to have access to the new policy, having preferred names printed to their BruinCards during orientation. Returning students, meanwhile, have the option to update their card by registering a preferred name through the university's student account portal, MyUCLA, and paying a $5 replacement fee.
Prior to printing preferred names on campus cards, UCLA students previously had the option to use a preferred name on select student records, including class rosters and unofficial transcripts, with prior approval from the registrar’s office. Per UCLA's guidelines, preferred first names are those that a student can elect to use in place of a legal first name on certain university records, as well as the name that the student wishes to be identified by in classroom settings and elsewhere on campus.
UCLA's history with the preferred name dates back to a September 2015 initiative that first allowed for preferred names to appear in place of a legal name on certain university-related records and documents. There remain some records requiring the use of a legal name that have not been included in the preferred name policy, including financial services records, official transcripts, diplomas and official verifications.
