LOS ANGELES — UCLA announced on Thursday that it has been informed about the withdrawal of federal research funding due to allegations of antisemitism, a decision the chancellor described as “a loss for America.”
“UCLA was notified that the federal government, via its administration of the National Science Foundation (NSF), the National Institutes of Health (NIH), and other agencies, is halting certain research funding to UCLA,” stated Chancellor Julio Frenk in a message addressed to the campus community. He did not disclose the amount involved.
“This situation represents not just a setback for researchers dependent on vital grants; it is a detriment to Americans nationwide whose endeavors, health, and future hinge on the innovative work we accomplish,” he added.
The Trump administration has attempted to exert pressure or retaliate against universities across the nation in the wake of student demonstrations on college campuses concerning the conflict in Gaza. Some Republican lawmakers and others have labeled these protests and related activities as antisemitic.
Frenk said in his message that the federal government cited antisemitism as its reason for the loss of funding.
“The federal government’s notice claims antisemitism and bias as the reasons for this action. Such a sweeping penalty of defunding crucial research contributes nothing to addressing any alleged discrimination,” Frenk expressed.
On Tuesday, UCLA disclosed that it has consented to a $6 million settlement to resolve a lawsuit alleging discrimination, which was filed by Jewish students and a faculty member. The lawsuit, initiated in June 2024, charged the university with inaction when pro-Palestinian demonstrators established encampments on campus that spring.
Frenk wrote in the message to the Bruin community — as the UCLA community is known — that antisemitism has no place on campus but acknowledged room for improvement. He said the university has taken steps to combat it and put in place policies about student protests.
The National Science Foundation and the National Institutes of Health did not immediately respond to requests for comment late Thursday.
Frenk highlighted important work done by UCLA, which included helping create what would become the internet, and he said researchers “are now building new technologies that could fuel entire industries and help safeguard our soldiers.”
President Donald Trump pledged during his campaign to crack down on universities because of student protests against the war in Gaza, which Israel launched against Hamas after the Hamas attacks on Oct. 7, 2023, that targeted Israeli civilians, including at a music festival.
There is now a humanitarian crisis in Gaza, and this week the United Nations said its Integrated Food Security Phase Classification, or IPC, showed mounting evidence of a worsening famine. The IPC emphasized that its warning constituted an alert and was not a formal “famine classification.”
Columbia University in New York City, which was among the universities the Trump administration targeted over allegations of antisemitism, announced a settlement last week with the federal government in an effort to restore cut federal funding.
Brown University in Rhode Island said Wednesday that it reached an agreement with the federal government to restore funding. It said the agreement resolves three reviews of Brown’s “compliance with federal nondiscrimination obligations.”
