On behalf of the Mothers of Color in Academia de UCLA, parenting students, allied faculty, staff, and academic community, we write this petition to voice our concerns over the lack of support for parenting students, specifically mothers on this campus. As parenting students, mothers, fathers, queer and non-gender conforming parents, we experience a hostile campus culture of neglect and marginalization. As graduate student parents, we work as TA’s, Tutors, GSR’s, RA’s, and find that UCLA is not compliant with labor laws that insure good working conditions for breastfeeding mothers. There is not enough access to UCLA’s Early Care Education (ECE) to enroll our children and we are not afforded any leverages for obtaining child care, leaving us unsupported because of 1.5 to 3 year long waitlists for subsidized daycare. As graduate students who moved to Los Angeles from other cities and states to attend UCLA, many of us lack the family support or economic resources to pay for reliable childcare. We want a university where we feel supported and visible as parent-scholars. By signing this petition you express support for us in 1) securing proposer lactation rooms on campus, 2) advancing accessible childcare for parenting students on campus, 3) developing holistic reproductive support sources on campus.

Please read our entire petition on the following link or on our Facebook page for specific demands.
Petition link:https://docs.google.com/document/d/1PsN86DaCyzQEDmB3iV2DYg1CH6EhAlpyp2l1bQ3t650/edit
Facebook link:https://www.facebook.com/groups/MOCASdeUCLA/