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UCLA faculty gets big win in suit against Trump’s university attacks
On Friday, a US District Court issued a preliminary injunction blocking the United States government from halting federal funding at UCLA or any other school in the University of California system. The ruling came in response to a suit filed by groups representing the faculty at these schools challenging the Trump administration’s attempts to force UCLA into a deal that would substantially revise instruction and policy.
The court’s decision lays out how the Trump administration’s attacks on universities follow a standard plan: use accusations of antisemitism to justify an immediate cut to funding, then use the loss of money to compel an agreement that would result in revisions to how the university is run. The court finds that this plan was deficient on multiple grounds, from violating legal procedures for cutting funding to an illegal attempt at suppressing the First Amendment rights of faculty.
The result is a reprieve for the entire University of California system, as well as a clear pathway for any universities to fight back against the Trump administration’s attacks on research and education.
© Myung J. Chun
