Federal Government Suspends $200 Million in Grants to UCLA Over Antisemitism, Discrimination Allegations

The National Science Foundation, the National Institutes of Health, and other government agencies announced over the weekend that they would be cutting around $200 million in research funding grants to the University of California, Los Angeles over federal allegations of antisemitism and admissions discrimination being rife on campus.

While issues like antisemitism and admissions discrimination have always been around on University campuses nationwide, the last few years have seen a significant rise in both. Antisemitism, in particular, has seen a significant rise across Californian colleges since 2020. A 2022 report found that campuses failed to protect Jewish students, with the pro-Palestinian protests last year at several campuses, including UCLA, making the situation even worse. And while federal courts found held UCLA and others accountable for antisemitism on campus and some schools, like UC Berkeley, were sued over inaction, the issues continued.

The federal government ramped up pressure on Universities to do more about antisemitism and discrimination on campuses following Donald Trump being sworn in as President in January. The moves were swift. By March, the University of California was under a DOJ antisemitism investigation, with another investigation into race-and sex-based discrimination in university employment practices opening up in June.

The Trump administration also found a key weapon to combat University inaction of Jewish discrimination and harassment -funding cuts. In March, Columbia University in New York was slammed with $400 million in funding and grant cuts from the federal government, causing the University to settle and pay $200 million to have funding restored, as well as expand resources to combat antisemitism. Similarly, Brown University paid $50 million to restore federal funding over similar issues, while the University of Pennsylvania were forced to make major changes to transgender athlete policies to get back $175 million in federal funding.

Currently, Harvard University is battling the government in court over their funding cuts, while many other Universities, including Duke, are facing massive funding pauses and cuts. This led to the massive UCLA cuts over the weekend.

$200 million in funding cuts

Before the UCLA announcement, the Department of Justice heavily hinted that more action against UCLA was coming following a $6.5 million settlement being awarded to Jewish students at UCLA following the campus not doing enough to protect them and get them to class following the 2024 pro-Palestinian protests. It was found that UCLA violated civil rights law after a pro-Palestinian encampment was erected last year on campus and didn’t allow for ways for Jewish students to safely get to class and not be harassed.

“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,” Attorney General Pam Bondi said in a notice of violation. “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.”

UCLA denied the allegations, adding that defunding research grants would not address issues like antisemitism.

“UCLA received a notice that the federal government, through its control of the National Science Foundation (NSF), the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and other agencies, is suspending certain research funding to UCLA,” said UCLA Chancellor Julio Frenk in a statement. “This is not only a loss to the researchers who rely on critical grants. It is 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. 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.”

Governor Gavin Newsom also slammed the cuts, saying that it was a “manipulation.”

“Freezing critical research funding for UCLA – dollars that were going to study invasive diseases, cure cancer, and build new defense technologies – makes our country less safe,” added Newsom. “It is a cruel manipulation to use Jewish students’ real concerns about Antisemitism on campus as an excuse to cut millions of dollars in grants that were being used to make all Americans safer and healthier. This is the action of a president who doesn’t care about students, Californians, or Americans who don’t comply with his MAGA ways.”

Currently, it is unknown if the DOJ will stop at the cutting of grants for UCLA, or if they hope to get a similar settlement and ramping up of campus efforts against antisemitism akin to Columbia or Brown to release the grants again. Other campuses may also face similar cuts soon as the federal government keeps expanding the number of Universities receiving funding cuts.