The Trump administration is demanding that the University of California pay more than $1 billion to settle federal charges of antisemitism in exchange for restoring more than half a billion dollars in frozen grant funding to UCLA, sources said Friday.
A proposal from the federal government sent to UC on Friday said the university system should pay the billion-dollar fine in installments and contribute $172 million to a fund to pay Jewish students and other individuals affected by alleged violations of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act. The statute covers illegal discrimination related to race, color, religion, sex, national origin or shared ancestry, including Jewish and Israeli identity.
Two UC senior officials, speaking on background because they were not authorized to publicly comment on negotiations, confirmed the proposal to The Times. A White House official who spoke on background also confirmed the financial figures.
UC, which is grappling with how to restore $584 million in frozen medical and science grant funds to UCLA, has not accepted the proposal, sources said. If it were accepted, it would be the largest settlement between the university and the Trump administration.
UC and UCLA spokespeople did not immediately reply to requests seeking comment.
The proposal came one day after Gov. Gavin Newsom said UC should not bend “on their knees” to the president as university leaders negotiate with the Trump administration to restore the frozen UCLA grants.
Newsom chided settlements Trump struck with two Ivy League universities. Columbia and Brown agreed to pay hefty fines and make sweeping campus changes in exchange for the restoration of research money that was also canceled over Trump antisemitism allegations. Harvard too is negotiating with the government over similar charges.
“We’re not Brown, we’re not Columbia, and I’m not going to be governor if we act like that,” Newsom said, referring to settlements the universities announced last month. “Period. Full stop, I will fight like hell to make sure that doesn’t happen.”
The university system, run by its president and Board of Regents, is independent under the state Constitution. But the governor can exercise political sway over the regents, whose members he appoints. Newsom also holds an ex-officio seat on the board.
“There’s principles. There’s right and wrong, and we’ll do the right thing. This is about our competitiveness. It’s about the fate and future of this country. It’s about our sovereignty,” Newsom said Thursday. “It’s about so much more than the temperament of an aggrieved individual who happens to currently be president of the United States.”
The proposal was first reported by CNN.
Kaleem reported from Los Angeles and Wilner from Washington.
