Charlize Adano
On Sept. 29, the Trump administration began restoring all of UCLA’s research grants in compliance with a federal court order issued on Sept. 22. A status report issued by President Donald Trump estimates that the funds will be restored in full to UCLA by Oct. 6.
To resolve allegations of civil rights violations — instances of antisemitism on the University’s campus dating back to 2024 — the Trump administration has launched many financial attacks on the University of California and UCLA in particular. In July, the Trump administration froze approximately $584 million in research grants for UCLA from the National Science Foundation and the National Institutes of Health. The Department of Justice also opened a case against UCLA.
UCLA has successfully appealed the funding freezes and continues negotiations with the DOJ. In August, U.S. District Judge Rita Lin ruled in UCLA’s favor, ordering the NSF to restore 300 grants designated to UCLA. In September, Lin ordered the NIH to restore the remaining 500 frozen grants to the University.
On Sept. 15, the DOJ set out its settlement proposal of $1.2 billion to UCLA. During negotiations, before Lin’s restoration order on Sept. 22, the DOJ also told UCLA that it would unfreeze all federal research funds in exchange for the $1.2 billion settlement.
The suit remains unresolved. Alongside the $1.2 billion, the proposal would also enact policy changes to UCLA. According to a review of the document conducted by the Los Angeles Times, it “seeks to drastically overhaul campus practices on hiring, admissions, sports, scholarships, discrimination and gender identity.” The settlement also requires the University to pay an additional $172 million to fund the legal claims of those impacted by the University’s alleged civil rights violations.
On Aug. 8, UC President James Milliken responded to the Trump administration’s proposal with a statement of concern.
“As a public university, we are stewards of taxpayer resources and a payment of this scale would completely devastate our country’s greatest public university system as well as inflict great harm on our students and all Californians,” the statement read.
The UC website currently features a banner labeled “Take Action,” which displays several action items to “Stand with us to protect UC” in the face of the federal government’s demand of $1.2 billion from UCLA. The actions include signing a symbolic pledge, sharing “what UC means to you” through a submission box, emailing lawmakers, and getting involved with the UC Advocacy Network.
The Trump administration’s claims of civil rights violations fueling the settlement and the funding freezes are in reference to UCLA’s response to on-campus encampments set up by students, faculty, and community members in solidarity with Palestine in 2024.
The DOJ first announced its investigation into UCLA’s potential violation of civil rights on May 9, 2025, alleging that UCLA’s handling of the protest violated both the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment and Title VI of the Civil Rights Act. On July 29, the DOJ closed the investigation with the issuance of a press release stating that the University “[acted] with deliberate indifference in creating a hostile educational environment for Jewish and Israeli students” and that UCLA officials failed to properly and promptly stop an “unlawful encampment.”
Attorney General Pan Bondi stated the federal government’s intention to discipline UCLA for these alleged violations. “This disgusting breach of civil rights against students will not stand: DOJ will force UCLA to pay a heavy price for putting Jewish Americans at risk,” Bondi said.
On the same day, the DOJ also addressed a letter to former UC President Dr. Michael Drake stating its intention “to enter into a voluntary resolution agreement with the University to ensure that the hostile environment is eliminated and reasonable steps are taken to prevent its recurrence.”
The DOJ’s notice of violation to UCLA specifically alleges that the University refused to request law enforcement support, despite demonstrators reportedly “physically [preventing] Jewish and Israeli students from accessing parts of campus” and placing Jewish students “in a state of anxiety and fear.” University officials ultimately called law enforcement on May 1, 2024, which resulted in police inflicting violence against protesters and arresting hundreds of students, faculty, and community members.
A member of The UCSD Guardian present at the UCLA encampment commented that the community welcomed Jewish students and hosted Shabbat services. On May 3, 2024, a day after law enforcement disbanded the encampment, Jewish Voices for Peace released a press statement condemning the violent police attack on the encampment and offered an insider narrative of the encampment’s events and purpose.
The statement read, “Before the violence of Tuesday evening, the encampment was a beacon of possibility and safety. Jewish UCLA students led a Passover Seder at the encampment, as well as Shabbat and Havdalah services.”
It also included testimonies from community members who were present at the encampment. Lilah, a UCLA undergraduate and member of JVP, commented: “Through our interfaith community, we are building the world we want to live in. We, Jewish students at UCLA, feel completely erased from the narratives put out by the Chancellor, who refuses to acknowledge the Jewish presence within the encampment because it is inconvenient to the narrative he is trying to perpetuate. The actions of our administration shows us their priorities.”
The UC Board of Regents held a closed meeting on Aug. 11, 2025, to discuss and review the DOJ’s demands and the suspension of funding. No information about the outcome of this meeting has been made public.
While the DOJ has concluded its investigation into UCLA, investigations into the broader UC system and its campuses are ongoing. The DOJ has not reported its findings to the other UC campuses as of publishing.
The DOJ’s settlement proposal comes after UCLA paid out $6.5 million in July 2025 to settle the private Title VI lawsuit Frankel v. Regents of the UC, in which three UCLA students sued on grounds of an alleged lack of protection against antisemitism during UCLA’s Palestine encampments.
UCLA is the first public university targeted by the federal government. The $1.2 billion settlement proposal is the largest put forth by the Trump administration so far; private universities Columbia University and Brown University were offered settlement deals totaling $200 million and $50 million, respectively.
The UC’s budget has already been stretched thin in the face of the California state budget deficit and the Trump administration’s suspension of federal research grants.
Several Jewish UCLA students, faculty members, and community members authored a public letter condemning the Trump administration’s pursuit of the $1.2 billion settlement, calling the proposal “misguided and punitive.” The letter, titled “Jews in Defense of UC,” has gathered over 640 signatures across the UC system.
“We urge the Trump Administration to cease its attempts to deprive institutions such as ours of vital research funds intended to save and improve lives,” the letter read. “And we ask that it cease its misplaced efforts to withhold funds in the name of combating antisemitism. The impact of the cuts will have a deleterious effect on all members of our community, including but not restricted to Jews.”
The Regents, Gov. Gavin Newsom, and Milliken have yet to move forward with a formal response to the DOJ’s settlement proposal. During a news conference on Aug. 8, Newsom vowed to “push back” against the Trump administration’s proposal.
“We will not be complicit in this kind of attack on academic freedom on this extraordinary public institution,” Newsom said. “We are not like some of those other institutions that have followed a different path.”