Aug. 1 (UPI) — The University of California, Los Angeles, has announced that it has lost research funding over federal accusations of anti-Semitism at the school.
The announcement comes days after the Justice Department said UCLA failed to protect Jewish and Israeli students during pro-Palestine protests that erupted on its campus, as well as those across the United States, in the spring and summer of last year in protest of Israel’s war in Gaza.
The prestigious university did not state the amount of federal funding it would be stripped of, but said it may impact hundreds of grants.
“In its notice to us, the federal government claims anti-Semitism and bias as the reasons. This far-reaching penalty of defunding life-saving research does nothing to address any alleged discrimination,” UCLA Chancellor Julio Frenk said in the Thursday letter addressed to the school’s community.
Frenk said the funding affect is under the control of the National Science Foundation, the National Institutes of Health and other agencies, which will result in the suspension of certain research funding.
“This is not only a loss to the researchers who rely on critical grants. It is a loss for Americans across the nation whose work, health and future depend on the groundbreaking work we do.”
UCLA is one of dozens of American universities that have been targeted by the Trump administration with civil rights and constitutional investigations in connection to protests demanding the schools divest from Israel over its war in Gaza.
Since returning to the White House in January, President Donald Trump has been cracking down on institutions of higher learning, in particular elite schools, over a slew of allegations, from not protecting Jewish students to illegally enforcing diversity, equity and inclusion policies.
On Tuesday, the Justice Department told UCLA in a letter that an investigation into its handling of the pro-Palestine protests found it had violated the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment and Title VI of the Civil Rights Act by “acting with deliberate indifference in creating a hostile educational environment for Jewish and Israeli students.”
That same day, the university reached a multimillion-dollar settlement that includes paying $6.13 million to three Jewish students and a professor who accused the school of violating their civil rights by permitting the pro-Palestine protests.
Frenk said UCLA shares the goal of eradicating anti-Semitism from society, and has taken actions to manage protests on campus as well as launched an initiative to combat anti-Semitism.