The Trump administration has suspended $584 million in federal grants awarded to UCLA, nearly double the amount previously reported, according to UCLA Chancellor Julio Frenk.
This marks the first time a public university has faced such a funding freeze over allegations of civil rights violations related to antisemitism and affirmative action.
The big picture: Previously, the Trump administration had targeted private colleges’ federal funding under similar accusations.
- The suspension endangers critical research primarily funded by the National Science Foundation, National Institutes of Health and Department of Energy.
- Chancellor Frenk described the funding freeze as devastating, not only for UCLA but for Americans nationally, emphasizing the university’s track record of groundbreaking research achievements.
Driving the news: The funding freeze followed findings by the Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division that UCLA violated the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment and Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
- The violations stemmed from “deliberate indifference” to a hostile environment for Jewish and Israeli students on campus.
- These allegations were connected to protests in 2024 where pro-Palestinian demonstrators reportedly blocked Jewish students and faculty from accessing classes and certain campus areas.
- UCLA settled a civil rights lawsuit in which three Jewish students and a Jewish professor argued the university failed to protect their rights, agreeing to pay $6 million.
- As part of the settlement, UCLA pledged $2.3 million to eight organizations combating antisemitism and supporting its Jewish community.
Flashback: The Trump administration’s actions follow a similar settlement with Columbia University, which agreed to pay $200 million and had $400 million in research grants restored after resolving federal antidiscrimination investigations.
