The Trump administration is currently in talks with UCLA to settle discrimination and antisemitism allegations by seeking $1 billion from the university in exchange for restoring over half a billion dollars in frozen grant funding. The proposed agreement, sent to UCLA on Friday, requires the university to pay the federal government $1 billion in multiple installments, along with creating a $172 million claims fund for victims of Title VII violations.
Following an announcement by the Justice Department that UCLA violated the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment and Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Trump administration suspended $584 million in federal grants to the university. UC President James Milliken stated that they are reviewing the offer and emphasized the importance of engaging in dialogue to protect the university’s research mission.
California state Senator Ben Allen criticized the Trump administration’s demand, stating that it is detrimental to American innovation and greatness. This comes after settlements between Ivy League schools like Columbia and Brown University and the Trump administration. Columbia has agreed to pay over $220 million to resolve civil rights investigations, while Brown will pay $50 million over a decade to state workforce development organizations.
In a separate incident, UCLA recently settled a lawsuit for $6 million brought by Jewish students and faculty over the school’s handling of anti-Israel protests, including an incident where Jewish students were banned from a part of the campus known as a “Jew Exclusion Zone.” The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty filed the lawsuit, accusing UCLA of fostering an antisemitic culture on campus.
