UCLA Research Frozen: $584 Million Grant Cut Stuns Campus

(MENAFN- Live Mint) The Trump administration has frozen $584 million in federal grants for UCLA, more than double earlier estimates, threatening hundreds of research projects. Chancellor Julio Frenk announced the massive cut Wednesday, revealing that agencies like the National Science Foundation (NSF) and National Institutes of Health (NIH) suspended funding over claims of antisemitism on campus .

UCLA is the first public university targeted this way, following similar moves against private schools like Harvard and Columbia. Frenk warned the freeze would be "devastating for Americans nationwide," impacting studies on diseases, clean energy, and national security.

The freeze affects 800 grants, including life-saving organ transplant research pioneered at UCLA.

The cuts followed a U.S. Department of Justice report accusing UCLA of ignoring antisemitism during 2024 pro-Palestinian protests, despite the university recently paying a $6 million settlement to Jewish students over the same encampment.

Federal agencies gave conflicting justifications: the NSF cited "misaligned priorities," while the Department of Energy bizarrely claimed UCLA "endangers women" by allowing transgender athletes and uses "illegal affirmative action" in admissions.

UC President James Milliken slammed the move, stating: "These cuts do nothing to address antisemitism" and would be a "death knell" for medical and scientific breakthroughs.

UCLA has created a safety office and antisemitism task force since the protests.

Under pressure, the University of California agreed to negotiate with the Trump administration before a September 2 lawsuit deadline . The talks aim to restore funding, but precedents are worrying: Columbia paid $200 million and Brown University paid $50 million to regain their grants.

Over 3,000 UCLA staff attended an emergency town hall Monday, with Vice Chancellor Roger Wakimoto warning that researchers can't even access existing funds for critical work . Frenk, whose family fled Nazi Germany, stressed UCLA's reforms but called the freeze a "cruel manipulation" unrelated to fighting hate . California Governor Gavin Newsom blasted Trump for“weaponizing Jewish students' pain”.

Projects in jeopardy include:

• Organ transplant technology keeping lungs "breathing" outside bodies
• Asteroid-tracking systems guarding Earth from space threats
• Valley fever treatment research for the deadly disease

Faculty warn the freeze could cancel decades of progress, like UCLA's role in creating the internet . With Columbia's settlement as a template, UCLA faces tough choices: pay massive fines or risk permanent cuts. "Every deal made makes it harder for others to resist," warned American Association of University Professors director Mia McIver . As UC negotiates, scientists statewide brace for ripple effects, hoping lifesaving work won't become collateral in a political war .

MENAFN06082025007365015876ID1109895394