UCLA prime ministers are ready to oppose Trump’s demands unless they are “effective”

UCLA Prime Minister Julio Frenk said the university will address “effective” issues in the Trump administration and comply with the law, but will defend campuses from federal civil rights investigations and funding moratoriums.

In a wide online appearance hosted by the Los Angeles Jewish Citizens Group on Thursday night, Frenke said the University of California is still considering suing the Trump administration’s August demand that the UCLA fine is a $1.2 billion fine and transgender identity to campus and international students in its diversity programs, admissions habits, admissions practices and policies.

But for now, he said UC officials are in talks with the Justice Department and will firmly uphold the core academic freedom to “make sure there is no government intervention in the people we hire, the people we acknowledge, and what we teach or study.”

Frenk said his continued saga of federal action and funding kickbacks has rocked nearly two months, his first widespread public remarks have left him without “directly” participating in government talks and without “visibility” about how long the process will take.

But he said he is taking firm action against UCLA’s anti-Semitism allegations.

“We believe in talking about and trying to come up with cases, we try to prove that we are serious about anti-Semitism, and pausing research is not a way to solve this problem,” Frenke said.

Jewish United Democracy and Justice presided over the event, titled “Can American universities survive the current attack?” The group was founded in President Trump’s first term in response to a travel ban, which was originally targeted at Muslim majority countries after the president pledged to ban all Muslims from immigrating to the U.S.

On its website, its leadership includes former Los Angeles County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky and former Congressman Mel Levine said it responds to “the growing threat to religious tolerance, equal rights, freedom and justice, human dignity, long-standing definitions and civil society norms.”

Larry Mantle, the LAIST’s Airtalk host, interviewed Frenk, focusing most of the discussion on the Times report that revealed details of the 28-page settlement proposal Trump sent to UCLA last month.

The Trump administration revoked $584 million in UCLA research grant in late July, citing campus anti-Semitism, the use of race in admissions and the school’s recognition of transgender identity. To restore funds, the government has requested changes to admissions, protest rules and gender-affirming health care for minors. It also hopes to ban universities from recognizing “anti-Western” international students and request disclosure of internal campus records.

Much of the funds have been temporarily restored by a court order, part of a lawsuit filed by UC faculty. The lawsuit is underway in court, and a federal judge considers the case’s merits.

A UCLA spokesman clarified to Times that the prime minister mentioned that the lawsuit as part of the university strategy refers to a teacher-led lawsuit.

In his speech, Frenk outlined several areas of the UCLA willing to agree to the Trump administration while refusing to take stances on others.

Action against anti-Semitism

Frenke said there were “failures” in the 2024 pro-Palestinian protests to respond to complaints of discrimination among members of the Jewish community, including that they were stopped by protesters because they were Jewish. Others, including Jewish members of the pro-Palestinian camp, also disagreed, saying the camp restricted some pro-Israeli individuals as a downgrade measure. The camp is facing violent attacks on April 30 and May 1, 2024 by night-vigil mobs.

Frenk, who headed the UCLA in January, said he “speaks out loud” that the campus’s “first requirement” was to address the Jewish student climate, and he believes the campus has made significant progress.

He also said the university is committed to protecting the rights of Muslim students and all groups from discrimination.

When asked whether UCLA would use the controversial definition of anti-Semitism through the International Holocaust Memorial Coalition, a quasi-governmental international body, Frenke refused to support or oppose the idea. While this is not part of the federal requirement for UCLA, some Jewish teachers require campuses to adopt that definition. It says: “Denied the Jewish right to self-determination, such as claiming that the existence of the state of Israel is a racist effort,” is an example of anti-Semitism.

Harvard and Columbia University have similarly defined this year’s anti-Semitism survey.

Born in Mexico, Frenk, whose grandparents fled rising anti-Semitism in Germany in the 1930s, said criticism of “Israel or Jews” was anti-Semitism. But he said criticizing the Israeli government or its policies is not.

He said the Trump administration’s suspension of grants could be “worse”.

“Now we hear people say, ‘It’s because Jewish teachers are complaining so much, and now I’m canceling the grant,” Frank said.

He added: “We have a lot of Jewish researchers themselves” who also lost in the government’s actions to address so-called discrimination.

Allegations of using ACE in admissions

Frenk said that in addition to federal anti-Semitism allegations, the administration accused the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) of illegal use of racial enrollment and discriminated against women by recognizing trans women in sports and other regions.

“It’s a valid problem and we need to address them,” Frenke said, adding that UCLA follows state and federal laws.

He said the UCLA is “compliant” with decades-old state laws that prohibit the use of race in admissions. Regarding trans athletes, “this is not something we have to deal with on this particular campus” because UCLA is part of the National University Track and Field Association, which bans trans women from sports teams.

As for the government’s requirement to end all gender care for minors, the prime minister said: “We will have to comply with any rules proposed by the federal government.” UCLA does not provide gender-affirming surgeries for transgender minors, but does offer other treatments, such as hormone prescriptions or pubertal blockers, he said. He said campuses will “must see” how federal policies on the matter were formulated.

A UCLA representative later said the university stopped providing gender-inducing surgery in June 2024. The service previously provided was chest surgery. They did not point out why the medical services stopped.

The Trump administration also proposed that UCLA screen international applicants to prevent “anti-American” and “anti-Western” people from coming to campus. Although Trump clearly states in separate statements and actions, in his opinion, it has not yet defined the meaning of the term in separate statements and actions.

Frenke declined to say whether UCLA agreed to such terms.

“All of these can be non-problems. I don’t want to speculate,” he said. He said the government’s demands are not “results” but “hypothesis” suggestions.

“Our focus remains on protecting students’ opportunities to receive UC education and promoting academic freedom, excellence and innovation at the heart of the university’s mission,” UC spokesman Rachel Zaentz said in a statement.