Trump Administration Seeks $1 Billion from UCLA in Antisemitism Settlement

ERBIL (Kurdistan24) – The Trump administration is demanding a staggering $1 billion settlement from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) to resolve explosive allegations of discrimination and antisemitism on campus, a move that leverages over half a billion dollars in already-frozen federal grant funding and has been decried by university and state officials as a devastating blow to public education and research.

According to a report from Fox News Digital, the proposed agreement was sent to the university on Friday. It requires UCLA to pay the federal government $1 billion in multiple installments and to establish a separate $172 million claims fund for alleged victims of employment discrimination under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, which prohibits discrimination based on religion, race, color, sex, or national origin. The administration’s demand is backed by significant financial pressure, as it has already suspended $584 million in federal grants from UCLA. This action followed a Justice Department announcement that it found the school in violation of the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment and Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

In a statement provided to Fox News Digital, University of California President James Milliken confirmed that the university system had received the document with the offer and was in the process of reviewing it. Milliken stated that the university had previously attempted to engage in constructive dialogue with the Justice Department to protect its mission. "As a public university, we are stewards of taxpayer resources, and a payment of this scale would completely devastate our country’s greatest public university system as well as inflict great harm on our students and all Californians," he said. Milliken emphasized the critical role of the institution, noting, "Americans across this great nation rely on the vital work of UCLA and the UC system for technologies and medical therapies that save lives, grow the U.S. economy and protect our national security."

In a further statement, Milliken characterized the federal demand as a "misuse of tax dollars that will hurt the University’s mission of serving students and the public." He defended the university's response to antisemitism, stating that UCLA and the wider UC system have taken "meaningful steps to make it clear that combatting antisemitism and protecting Jewish students, faculty, and community members on campus is a top priority." According to the report, he added that the university has been "committed to increasing security, strengthening policies against hate, and engaging directly with Jewish voices to better inform their approach." He argued that if the administration's true goal was to protect the Jewish community, "they would be supporting that work – not hamstringing it with these outlandish demands that would only take away needed resources and services for students and faculty."

The move has drawn sharp criticism from state political figures. California state Senator Ben Allen, a Democrat whose district includes UCLA, told Fox News that the Trump administration's demand is "harming the engines of American power, innovation, and, indeed, greatness." The action also came just a day after California Governor Gavin Newsom criticized recent settlements the Trump administration reached with Columbia and Brown universities over similar issues. "We’re not Brown, we’re not Columbia, and I’m not going to be governor if we act like that," Newsom said, vowing, "I will fight like hell to make sure that doesn’t happen."

As reported by Fox News, these other settlements involved significant payments. Columbia University will pay more than $220 million to resolve multiple federal civil rights investigations, which includes $21 million specifically to settle claims of antisemitic employment discrimination against Jewish faculty following the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attacks in Israel. Brown University agreed to a deal to pay $50 million over a decade to state workforce development organizations.

The federal action follows a separate legal settlement in July, where UCLA agreed to pay $6 million to resolve a lawsuit brought by Jewish students and faculty members concerning the university's handling of anti-Israel protests. That lawsuit, filed by the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, accused UCLA of "aiding and abetting" an antisemitic culture on campus, including allowing protesters to create what was termed a "Jew Exclusion Zone" that allegedly prevented Jewish students from accessing parts of the campus.