The top UCLA leader raised the “obvious possibility” that financial losses from the Trump administration’s cuts could reach billions of dollars and surpassed the UCLA to reach the entire 10 campus system, telling state lawmakers Wednesday that “stakes are high, risky, and very real.”
UC President James B. Milliken said in a letter to dozens of lawmakers obtained by The Times that the university faces “one of the worst threats in UC’s 157-year history,” after the Trump administration cuts more than $500 million in grants to UCLA for more than $500 million. Ask for a fine of $1.2 billion Exceed Campus anti-Semitism accusations.
Milliken outlines the potential losses of the country’s outstanding public university system in Trump’s higher education agenda, and has caused UCLA since its start on August 1.
UC “gets more than $17 billion in revenue from the federal government every year – $9.9 billion in Medicare and Medicaid funding, $5.7 billion in research financing, and $1.9 billion in student financial aid every year.” Milliken wrote: “If you lose such funds, we need at least $400 million to $500 million a year to minimize losses.”
“The substantial loss of federal funds will destroy our universities and cause great harm to our students, our patients and all Californians. Courses and student services will be reduced, will be turned away, thousands of jobs will be lost, and we will see the prestigious UC researchers leaving our state, in our more stable other countries in Abroad, bringing more stable opportunities for others.”
Milliken, who met with lawmakers in Sacramento last month, wrote a message to Wiener and 33 other legislators, urging UC leaders to “not face this political shakyness of President Trump” and President Trump’s actions said his actions were “legislators’ actions” were “ransomware attempts”topruption of the Wiretrian playbook of the Wiretrian playbook”””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””
A UC spokesperson said in a statement about the letter that the university is “committed to working with leaders in Sacramento and across the country to ensure we have the resources we need to continue to create jobs, discoveries that change lives, and economic opportunities facing historical challenges.”
In addition to cutting grants and $1.2 billion demand from the UCLA, the Trump administration is proposing comprehensive changes on the Westwood campus. This includes the release of detailed admission data – the government accused UCLA of illegally considering race when awarding seats – restrictions on protests, as well as the termination of race-related scholarships and diversity hiring programs. The Justice Department also calls for a ban on gender care for minors in the UCLA healthcare system.
The Trump administration accused UCLA of violating civil rights laws for not taking campus complaints about anti-Semitism seriously. Although Hamas’ subsequent war against Israel and Israel in Gaza has hit anti-Semitism on campus since October 7, 2023, many influential faculty, staff and students, including many of them Jewish campus community, It has said that UCLA has made progress in addressing the campus climate.
Vienna wrote in the letter: “Free speech, academic freedom, scientific research and democracy are the values that led to the thriving Jews. These attacks on California, our immigrant communities, science and LGBTQ people are in stark contrast to Jewish values.
Wiener’s letter urged UC leaders to crack down on government demands when negotiating with the Justice Department.
The letter was to Milliken, UC Board of Directors and UCLA Chancellor Chancellor Chancellor Julio Frenk, said: “Add to these reprehensible demands will not stabilize the UC system; it will betray us the values of protecting and celebrating our most vulnerable communities.
“UCLA’s concessions will establish a destructive precedent for public schools in a state that does not succumb to the president,” Wiener and others wrote.
“We must resist Trump’s blackmail to protect public higher education, the economy, our students and California values,” lawmakers wrote.
Although the university has been engaged to the Trump administration to restore UCLA funding, a settlement has not been reached, and there is a wide gap between the two parties that are acceptable to clauses between the two parties.
Newsom called the government’s proposed fine a “ransom” and said he hopes the UC sue the administration rather than “submission to Trump.”
But the decision on the lawsuit depends on the independent UC board of directors. The governor appointed many but not all the Regent and 24 members of the board of directors. Newsom can exercise political influence on his actions, but there is no formal power over the decisions of the human body beyond his vote.
