Last week, the Trump administration made it official: they are coming after the University of California.

It is imperative that in their response to this attack, UC leaders negotiate with the knowledge that what is at stake is not just research grant funding for UCLA, but the future of federal funding for the UC system, California’s political autonomy, and public higher education across the U.S. For that reason, President Milliken and the Regents should exhaust all legal remedies, refuse all concessions, and resist illegal acts by the Trump administration.

Background

On Friday August 8, the Trump administration demanded a $1 billion "settlement" from UCLA after freezing $584 million in federal grants. UCLA and the UC Office of the President have entered into "good faith dialogue" with the Department of Justice with the hope of reaching an agreement that would reinstate that federal funding. In a message to the UC community on August 8, President Milliken asserted that this payment would "completely devastate our country’s greatest public university system as well as inflict great harm on our students and all Californians."

The proposed $1 billion agreement would be the largest settlement since Trump began extorting universities under the guise of fighting antisemitism and investigating alleged Title VII violations. Significantly, this demand of UCLA marks the first attempt of the federal government to ransom payment from a public university, funded by state taxpayers. On Tuesday, August 12, the 9th Circuit issued a preliminary injunction that the Trump administration reverse its suspension of the grants and restore NSF funding. But we know that their attacks on UC will not stop.

The Regents now have to decide if they will surrender to the Trump administration’s demands. Reporting suggests those include:

• Discontinuation of race and ethnicity-based scholarships and federal access to admissions data

• Prohibition of overnight demonstrations and expansion of existing restrictions on campus protests

• Subjection of foreign student applicants to additional federal screening based on their "likelihood to engage in protests"

• An end to gender-affirming care for patients at the UCLA hospital and medical school

• Single-sex housing for women on campus

Let’s be clear: Trump's demands are attempts to resegregate our universities, to banish non-citizens and gender non-conforming people from public life, to suppress free speech, to silence pro-Palestinian activism, and to supersede shared governance on our campuses - potentially undermining our collective bargaining rights.

Take Action

Only the Regents and President Milliken have the power right now to end this attack, and they seem prepared to surrender. We have to keep the pressure on them to defend our university and refuse to settle. UC-AFT remains resolute that the University of California should concede nothing to these outrageous demands. We call on President Milliken and the UC Regents to refuse any concessions demanded by Trump’s Department of Justice and to stabilize funding for research AND teaching in UC!

Join us in keeping up the pressure on our leaders by sending your message today!