UCLA loses federal research funding in administration's ongoing fight with top universities

CNN

4 days ago

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UCLA is the latest major institution of higher learning to see promised research funding snatched away by the Trump administration, the university's leader said in an open letter to students and faculty Thursday.
'This is not only a loss to the researchers who rely on critical grants,' wrote Chancellor Julio Frenk. 'It is a loss for Americans across the nation whose work, health, and future depend on the groundbreaking work we do.'
Grants from the National Science Foundation and the National Institutes of Health are included in the suspensions, Frenk said, but did not provide an amount of how much funding is in peril. The Los Angeles Times reported that roughly $200 million in grants awarded to UCLA are being suspended, citing a partial list of suspended grants provided to them by a source.
A spokesperson for the National Science Foundation declined to provide specific figures, saying grant awards are being suspended 'because they are not in alignment with current NSF priorities and/or programmatic goals.'
'We will not fund institutions that promote antisemitism,' said a spokesperson for the Department of Health and Human Services, which includes the National Institutes of Health. 'We will use every tool we have to ensure institutions follow the law.'
The Trump administration has repeatedly cited antisemitism – especially in the context of contentious pro-Gaza protests on campuses – as a reason to deny promised funds to universities, including Harvard and Columbia. Harvard is fighting the funding decisions in court, while Columbia agreed to a settlement with the government that restored its grants.
The funding cut comes days after the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division announced it found UCLA in violation of federal law by 'acting with deliberate indifference in creating a hostile educational environment for Jewish and Israeli students.'
While the formal notice to UCLA said the federal government 'now seeks to enter into a voluntary resolution agreement,' Attorney General Pam Bondi sounded less conciliatory.
'DOJ will force UCLA to pay a heavy price for putting Jewish Americans at risk and continue our ongoing investigations into other campuses in the UC system,' Bondi said in a statement.
It is not just the Trump administration that has tangled with UCLA over charges of antisemitism. A group of Jewish students filed suit against the university last June, saying the school allowed discrimination against Jews to flourish following Israel's military operation in Gaza in response to the October 7 attacks.
The lawsuit said UCLA leaders waited days before responding to a group of pro-Palestinian protesters that refused to allow students to enter campus unless they agreed to 'a statement pledging their allegiance to the activists' views.'
UCLA settled the lawsuit earlier this week for $6.45 million, with more than $2 million of the total going to designated 'organizations that combat antisemitism and support the UCLA Jewish community.'
UCLA also agreed it is prohibited from 'knowingly allowing or facilitating the exclusion of Jewish students, faculty, and/or staff' from university programs and activities.