Trump Freezes $200 Million In UCLA Research Funding Due To Antisemitism Claims

LOS ANGELES, CA — Days after the Trump administration vowed that UCLA would pay a "heavy price" for violating the rights of Jewish and Israeli students, the federal government froze an estimated $200 million in medical and science research funding for the university.

In a campus message issued Thursday, UCLA Chancellor Julio Frenk called the decision "a loss for Americans across the nation whose work, health, and future depend on the groundbreaking work we do."

"With this decision, hundreds of grants may be lost, adversely affecting the lives and life-changing work of UCLA researchers, faculty and staff," Frenk said. "In its notice to us, the federal government claims antisemitism and bias as the reasons. This far-reaching penalty of defunding life-saving research does nothing to address any alleged discrimination.

"We share the goal of eradicating antisemitism across society. Antisemitism has no place on our campus, nor does any form of discrimination. We recognize that we can improve, and I am committed to doing so. Confronting the scourge of antisemitism effectively calls for thoughtfulness, commitment, and sustained effort — and UCLA has taken robust actions to make our campus a safe and welcoming environment for all students."

On Tuesday, the U.S. Department of Justice announced it had determined that the university violated the rights of Jewish and Israeli students by failing to "adequately respond to complaints of severe, pervasive and objectively offensive harassment and abuse" between Oct. 7, 2023, and the present.

"Our investigation into the University of California system has found concerning evidence of systemic anti-Semitism at UCLA that demands severe accountability from the institution," U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi said in a statement. "This disgusting breach of civil rights against students will not stand: 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."

Some UCLA students had complained of antisemitic incidents on the campus since the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack on Israel. The complaints increased during Israel's ensuing war in Gaza and campus protests that escalated and included a large pro-Palestinian encampment that was ultimately dismantled in an overnight police raid that ended with hundreds of arrests.

The campus group Faculty for Justice in Palestine at UCLA issued a statement Friday condemning the Trump administration's freezing of research funds, calling it a "cynical weaponization of antisemitism" that furthers a "misinformation campaign spinning calls for Palestinian freedom as antisemitic."

"We must name this for what it is: a thinly veiled attempt to punish supporters of Palestinian freedom, and to advance the long-standing conservative goal of dismantling higher education."

According to the Los Angeles Times, the National Science Foundation informed UCLA in a letter this week that it was terminating the grants because the university "continues to engage in race discrimination, including in its admissions process and in other areas of student life."

The Times reported that roughly 300 NSF grants were canceled, totaling roughly $180 million. The paper also reported that it reviewed a partial list of the suspended grants that added up to about $200 million.

— City News Service