The federal government freezes $584 million in grants and contracts at UCLA.
CNN reported that the Trump administration is putting pressure on the University of California, Los Angeles and seeking a $1 billion settlement.
“Payments of this scale will completely destroy the largest public university system in our country and cause great harm to our students and all Californians,” University of California President James B. Milliken said in a statement Friday.
The federal government failed to protect students from anti-Semitism as the federal government accused UCLA of violating civil rights laws because last spring, pro-Palestine protests sparked anti-Semitism on campus. UCLA Prime Minister Julio Frenk said that the National Science Foundation and other agencies have suspended $584 million in federal research funding since then. this New York Times The administration also reportedly hopes UCLA will use $172 million to fund victims of civil rights violations.
UC system officials announced Wednesday that they will negotiate with the federal government in an effort to reach a “voluntary resolution agreement” on the allegations.
“Our near-term goal is to see a $584 million moratorium and high-risk federal funding resume the university as soon as possible,” Milliken wrote in a statement Wednesday.
The UCLA is one of several institutions, whose executives have been dragged before Congress over the past two years to resolve pro-Palestine camps and alleged anti-Semitism and harassment associated with such protests.
If UCLA settles with the Trump administration, it will be the first public university to do so, but the third institution will reach a deal with the federal government in a matter of weeks. Last month, Columbia University reached an unprecedented settlement with the Trump administration, agreeing to make changes to admissions and academic programs and paying $221 million to close investigations into so-called anti-Semitism and restore some frozen research funding. The transaction will be supervised by a third-party resolution monitor.
Brown also reached a deal with the federal government in July that excludes spending to the Trump administration, but officials did agree to provide enrollment data to the federal government and bar trans athletes, among other offers.
Federal officials did not respond to requests for comment Friday.
