UC System in 'Uncharted Territory' With Trump Fight

As the University of California, Los Angeles, goes toe-to-toe against President Donald Trump's administration, experts say that the nation's most powerful public university system is in "uncharted territory."

According to the Los Angeles Times, UCLA was optimistic the morning of July 29 when it announced it had settled a federal discrimination lawsuit, agreeing to pay more than $2 million to Jewish civil rights groups plus millions in legal fees.

UCLA leaders called the settlement "real progress" in the fight against antisemitism and pointed the Trump administration to the agreement to showcase their efforts to course correct with Jewish communities.

Eleven days later, California Gov. Gavin Newsom torched the president at a press conference after federal officials demanded that the University of California system pay a $1 billion fine over allegations of antisemitism on UCLA's campus, illegal use of race-based admissions, and policies allowing transgender athletes to compete based on their gender identity.

"He has threatened us through extortion with a billion-dollar fine unless we do his bidding," Newsom said Friday, according to the Times, adding that California would "push back" with a lawsuit. "We will not be complicit in this kind of attack on academic freedom on this extraordinary public institution."

Politico reported that the $1 billion fine would resolve alleged civil rights violations and would be paid in installments over a three-year period. It would also reportedly force the UC system to make major changes to how it operates.

Newsom's remarks followed days of accusations, investigative findings, and the federal freeze of $584 million in research grants to UCLA.

"We are in uncharted territory," Ted Mitchell, president of the American Council on Education, told the Times. "We have seen the government come after Columbia, Brown, Harvard, and others. But this, now, is a test. Will UCLA be the defender of public universities? Will it strike a deal? And what role will money — taxpayer money — play?"

The developments represent a change of locale in Trump's battle to reshape higher education at America's colleges and universities. Prior to targeting the UC system, the administration had focused on Ivy League universities on the East Coast, including Harvard and Columbia.

"UCLA is not a random selection," Mitchell said. "The administration has had issues with California, with the governor, for some time. This is part of a larger battle between the administration and the state of California."

Trump's administration has alleged that "Marxist" universities have not done enough to protect Jewish students, have not handled the pro-Palestinian protests effectively, and have been too reliant on tuition from international students.

Federal demands reportedly include ending race- or ethnicity-based scholarships, requiring UCLA to share more admissions data with the government than it currently publicly releases, and making changes to rules governing overnight encampments.

The Times reported that UCLA leaders are baffled by some of the government's requests, as the UC system has already enacted some of the changes it's looking for.

The University of California, Los Angeles, has stopped asking for "diversity statements" in hiring and declared a "zero-tolerance" policy for encampments last fall. And as an NCAA member, the university is already required to follow new association rules that ban transgender athletes from women's sports teams.

"It feels like a cut-and-paste job," a senior UC official granted anonymity by the Times said about Trump's proposal. "It's like they took parts of letters to the Ivy Leagues, cobbled them together and added the words 'UCLA.'"

The 24-member UC Board of Regents has called an emergency closed-door meeting for Monday afternoon to discuss next steps, and it is unclear if Newsom, an ex officio member, will attend.

Then on Tuesday, a federal court hearing in a preexisting case will take place, which could result in the restoration of some UC grants.