Recognition and Reconciliation
UC Law SF will continue with its restorative justice efforts even long after our name has been changed.
The law school is now known as University of California College of the Law, San Francisco or UC Law SF for short, after Gov. Gavin Newsom signed Assembly Bill 1936, which revised the California Education Code, striking the name “Hastings” from the school. The bill took effect on Jan. 1, 2023 and reflects the name unanimously recommended by the College’s Board of Directors. The name change is part of a larger restorative justice effort that began in 2017, in recognition of harms done by the school’s founder against the Yuki Indians in the Round Valley and Eden Valley Region. They include offering pro bono legal services to California Native tribes, opening an Indigenous Law Center at the school, and installing a permanent memorial space on the College’s campus, among others.
January 1, 2023
It is with great pride that Chancellor & Dean David Faigman formally announces that as of January 1, 2023, the former UC Hastings College of the Law has a new name—University of California College of the Law, San Francisco.
November 14, 2022
It’s been a busy fall regarding our upcoming name change to UC Law San Francisco. I want to thank all of my colleagues for the immense amount of preparatory work that has gone into the logistics of the name change. I am also grateful to our legal team that is counseling us through the lawsuit filed by a few of Serranus Hastings’ descendants and a small group of alumni of the College opposed to the name change. I am confident that we will prevail in the litigation, and we are moving forward with plans for the renaming.
September 23, 2022
On September 23, 2022 California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed into law AB-1936, authored by Assembly member James C. Ramos, D-San Bernardino to rename UC Law SF and affirm the law school’s commitment to restorative justice initiatives in response to the history of its founder and first dean Serranus C. Hastings.
October 4, 2022
I am following up on my last message to you, in which I announced that the Governor had signed Assembly Bill 1936 into law, allowing us to move forward with our name change in 2023.
September 23, 2022
I write to you today with further updates on our name change journey since my last message on July 27th and our commitment to restorative justice initiatives with the California tribes most impacted by the acts of our founder and first dean, Serranus Hastings.
UC Law SF will continue with its restorative justice efforts even long after our name has been changed.
UC Hastings changed its name to UC College of the Law, San Francisco in 2023. We are known generally as UC Law SF. Below are some answers to Frequently Asked Questions about our new name and the process leading up to this exciting announcement.