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UCLA Faces $1 Billion DOJ Settlement Demand as California Pledges to Sue

The proposal follows a federal freeze of $584 million in UCLA research grants, challenging academic autonomy on allegations of antisemitism during pro-Palestinian protests.

People traverse Brown University campus in Providence, Rhode Island, on October 12, 2020.
Harvard President Alan Garber arrives to speak at the university's commencement in Cambridge, Massachusetts, on May 29.
President Donald Trump’s administration is demanding $1 billion from UCLA to avoid a lawsuit over its handling of antisemitism claims and to restore hundreds of millions in federal grants.
Mount Holyoke College President Danielle Holley speaking at a campus event on April 5.

Overview

  • The Justice Department’s draft offer would require UCLA to pay $1 billion plus $172 million into a victims’ compensation fund to restore its suspended research financing.
  • University leaders, including President James Milliken and Chancellor Julio Frenk, are reviewing the settlement document amid warnings that the cost would devastate the public university system.
  • Governor Gavin Newsom denounced the demand as “political extortion” and vowed that California will pursue legal action rather than comply with the payment.
  • Harvard is continuing to litigate against a separate $2.6 billion grant freeze after private institutions like Columbia and Brown settled earlier with multi-million-dollar fines and policy commitments.
  • Observers note that targeting UCLA marks the first use of federal grant leverage on a public university, intensifying debate over political oversight and academic freedom.