This post was updated Aug. 3 at 8:46 p.m.
The federal government is suspending research funding to UCLA, according to a Thursday email from Chancellor Julio Frenk.
UCLA received a notice that the National Science Foundation and the National Institutes of Health, along with other agencies, are suspending their funding to UCLA, according to the email. The move comes after the U.S. Department of Justice alleged in a letter to UC President Michael Drake on Tuesday that UCLA had violated federal civil rights law due to its treatment of Jewish and Israeli students during the Palestine solidarity encampment.
The DOJ alleged in the letter that UCLA had violated the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment and Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 – which prohibits programs receiving federal financial assistance from discriminating on the basis of race, color or national origin – by failing to adequately respond to claims of antisemitism on campus following Palestinian political party and militant group Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attacks on Israel.
[Related: DOJ alleges UCLA violated federal civil rights of Jewish, Israeli students]
“This is not only a loss to the researchers who rely on critical grants,” Frenk said in the email. “It is a loss for Americans across the nation whose work, health, and future depend on the groundbreaking work we do.”
UC Office of the President Media Relations did not respond in time to a request for comment on the defunding of research.
An NSF spokesperson said in a statement to the Daily Bruin that the agency is suspending awards to UCLA because the university is “not in alignment with current NSF priorities and/or programmatic goals.”
Frenk added in the email that the federal government listed “antisemitism and bias” as reasoning for the defunding. UCLA, he said, shares the goal of “eradicating antisemitism across society.”
“Let me be clear: Federal research grants are not handouts. Our researchers compete fiercely for these grants, proposing work that the government itself deems vital to the country’s health, safety and economic future,” he said in the email. “Grants lead to medical breakthroughs, economic advancement, improved national security and global competitiveness — these are national priorities.”
The UC settled a lawsuit Tuesday brought by three Jewish UCLA students and a professor, which claimed that the university allowed for an antisemitic environment to exist on campus during the Palestine solidarity encampment. It paid $6.45 million to settle, including allocating a total of $200,000 to the plaintiffs, $2.33 million to organizations that “support the UCLA Jewish community,” $320,000 to UCLA’s Initiative to Combat Antisemitism and $3.6 million for legal fees.
[Related: UC to pay $6.45M to settle antisemitism lawsuit over pro-Palestine encampment]
Pro-Palestine protesters set up an encampment in Dickson Plaza on April 25, 2024, to demand that the UC divest from companies associated with the Israeli military. Plaintiffs alleged in the suit that UCLA had allowed for the creation of a “Jew Exclusion Zone” in areas in and surrounding the encampment.
The DOJ filed a statement of interest supporting the plaintiffs in March, claiming that UCLA attempted to “evade liability” for enabling antisemitism on its campus.
The Trump administration has frozen funds from several universities, alleging they have allowed antisemitism – including Columbia University and Brown University, which both recently reached agreements with the federal government to restore their funding.
In the email, Frenk said UCLA’s leadership team has been preparing for the prospect of losing funding – and that it will do everything it can to defend its “values and principles.”
“With the support of the UC Board of Regents and the UC Office of the President, we are actively evaluating our best course of action,” Frenk said in the email. “We will be in constant communication as decisions move forward.”
This is a breaking story and will be updated when more information is available.
Contributing reports from Amanda Velasco, features and student life editor.