Trump admin freezes $584 mn UCLA grants, research projects at risk

The Trump administration has suspended $584 million in federal grants for the University of California, Los Angeles, nearly double the amount that was previously thought, the school's chancellor announced on Wednesday.

UCLA is the first public university whose federal grants have been targeted by the administration over allegations of civil rights violations related to antisemitism and affirmative action. The Trump administration has frozen or paused federal funding over similar allegations against private colleges.

"If these funds remain suspended, it will be devastating for UCLA and for Americans across the nation," Chancellor Julio Frenk said on Wednesday in a statement, noting the groundbreaking research that has come out of the university.

 

The departments affected rely on funding from the National Science Foundation, the National Institutes of Health and the Department of Energy, Frenk said.

The US Department of Education did not immediately respond to an email from The Associated Press requesting comment.

The Trump administration recently announced the US Department of Justice's Civil Rights Division found UCLA violated the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment and Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 "by acting with deliberate indifference in creating a hostile educational environment for Jewish and Israeli students".

The announcement came as UCLA reached a USD 6 million settlement with three Jewish students and a Jewish professor who sued the university, arguing it violated their civil rights by allowing pro-Palestinian protesters in 2024 to block their access to classes and other areas on campus.

The university has said that it is committed to campus safety and inclusivity and will continue to implement recommendations.

The new UC president, James B Milliken, said in a statement on Wednesday that it has agreed to talks with the administration over the allegations against UCLA.

"These cuts do nothing to address antisemitism," Milliken said. "Moreover, the extensive work that UCLA and the entire University of California have taken to combat antisemitism has apparently been ignored."  Milliken said the "cuts would be a death knell for innovative work that saves lives, grows our economy, and fortifies our national security. It is in our country's best interest that funding be restored".

As part of the lawsuit settlement, UCLA said it will contribute USD 2.3 million to eight organisations that combat antisemitism and support the university's Jewish community. It also has created an Office of Campus and Community Safety, instituting new policies to manage protests on campus. Frenk, whose Jewish father and grandparents fled Nazi Germany to Mexico and whose wife is the daughter of a Holocaust survivor, launched an initiative to combat antisemitism and anti-Israeli bias.

Last week, Columbia agreed to pay USD 200 million as part of a settlement to resolve investigations into the government's allegations that the school violated federal antidiscrimination laws. The agreement also restores more than USD 400 million in research grants.

The Trump administration plans to use its deal with Columbia as a template for other universities, with financial penalties that are now seen as an expectation.