The Trump administration canceled more than half a billion dollars’ worth of federal funding for the University of California in Los Angeles over claims that they did not do enough to shut down anti-Semitism on campus.
The college said they were in negotiations to preserve the $584 million dollars in federal research funds frozen by the administration, according to a letter shared with Politico.
‘The extensive work that UCLA and the entire University of California have taken to combat anti-Semitism has apparently been ignored.’
“If these funds remain suspended,” UCLA Chancellor Julio Frenk wrote in the letter Wednesday, “it will be devastating for UCLA and for Americans across the nation.”
University of California President James Milliken told Politico that the school had agreed “to engage in dialogue with the federal administration” and said its goal was to restore the millions in funding as quickly as possible.
Milliken criticized the decision and defended the UC system from the accusations of discrimination.
“These cuts do nothing to address anti-Semitism. Moreover, the extensive work that UCLA and the entire University of California have taken to combat anti-Semitism has apparently been ignored,” he said.
The cuts came just days after UCLA agreed to pay $6 million to Jewish students who said the university did not do enough to protect them from anti-Israel protesters.
“We are doing everything we can to protect the interests of faculty, students, and staff — and to defend our values and principles,” Frenk said in the letter, “as we actively evaluate our best course of action.”
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The Trump administration has cited anti-Israel protests on various campuses in order to rescind funding from colleges and universities.
In March, the administration slashed $400 million worth of grants and contracts to Columbia University and cited “harassment” of Jewish students from protesters. The university later agreed to some oversight and paid $200 million.
In April, the administration froze $2.2 billion in funding to Harvard over anti-Semitism claims. The university has denied the allegations and filed a lawsuit against Trump.
“The gravy train of federal assistance to institutions like Harvard, which enrich their grossly overpaid bureaucrats with tax dollars from struggling American families is coming to an end,” said White House spokesperson Harrison Fields at the time. “Taxpayer funds are a privilege, and Harvard fails to meet the basic conditions required to access that privilege.”
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