The White House’s push to impose financial penalties on the University of California at Los Angeles threatens the broader state, said James Milliken, president of the University of California system.
“Taking action against UCLA’s research funding does nothing to resolve the real challenges we face,” Milliken said at a UC Board of Regents meeting Wednesday. “In fact it casts a dark shadow over our entire future, calling into question the viability of institutions and threatening the future of our state and our nation.”
The Trump administration has proposed a sweeping settlement with UCLA over allegations of antisemitism and civil rights violations, amounting to more than $1 billion. The deal — which would be far larger than agreements the government reached with Ivy League universities such as Columbia and Brown — would also require major changes in UCLA’s admissions, hiring, athletics and medical practices, the Los Angeles Times reported this week.
Milliken, in a letter to the university community on Monday, said the institution “will not abandon its core values” as negotiations with the Justice Department proceed. He also noted that investigations are underway at all 10 of the UC system’s campuses, raising the risk of widespread financial disruption.
The UCLA proposal calls for the school to make five annual payments of $200 million and create a $172 million restitution fund for people alleging civil rights harms, according to the LA Times. In return, the government would release about $500 million in suspended federal research grants from the National Institutes of Health and Department of Energy. The terms are still under negotiation.
Beyond financial penalties, the proposal would bar the admission of foreign students deemed “anti-Western” and require UCLA to disclose annual demographic data on applicants and hires. The school would also have to issue a public statement that it no longer recognizes transgender identities.
Milliken took over as president of the UC system on Aug. 1, the day after UCLA said it received notice that the Trump administration froze hundreds of millions of dollars of federal research funds for UCLA.
This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text.
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