In a recent video on the American Association of University Professors (AAUP) YouTube channel, several professors discussed strategies to counteract ICE operations. They also speculated about President Donald Trump’s intentions, including a claim that he aims to reintroduce segregation in schools.
Among the speakers was Caroline Luce, a social sciences professor from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). She contributed to the discussion on the episode aired on November 6, entitled “ICE AND HIGHER ED: DEFENDING OUR COMMUNITIES.”
The Trump administration has put forward a demand for $1 billion from UCLA to resolve accusations of widespread antisemitism. Additionally, they have asked the university to create a $172 million fund for individuals who claim they have been victims of violations under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, which prohibits employment discrimination based on various factors, including race and religion.
In a juxtaposition of images, President Donald Trump is seen walking to Air Force One at Morristown Airport on September 14, 2025, in Morristown, New Jersey, alongside an undisclosed date headshot of UCLA professor Caroline Luce. (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images; UCLA)
In return for meeting these demands, the Trump administration has indicated it would release $584 million in federal grants to the university.
Professor Luce expressed her concerns, stating, “Agreeing to these demands would undermine the essence of higher education in our nation.” She also mentioned that the demands include sharing information about international students holding visas, potentially impacting those attending on student visas. Luce referred to Trump as the “orange man” during her remarks.
“It would demand access to students—undergraduate students—under the guise of trying to stomp out DEI, which we know is just a veiled excuse to re-segregate our universities, and that’s been borne out,” she said.
Asked how that claim has been “borne out,” Luce did not return a request for comment.
Police at UCLA were given permission to clear a massive anti-Israel demonstration. (ETIENNE LAURENT/AFP via Getty Images)
“During the Biden years, radical left-wing activists at universities separated and pit students against each other on the basis of race all in the name of DEI. President Trump put a stop to those divisive and un-American DEI programs to recenter the focus of education on merit,” a White House spokesperson told Fox News Digital. “Under President Trump’s bold leadership, promoting academic excellence is the number one objective once again in American education.”
The conversation was hosted by New York University (NYU) professor Chenjerai Kumanyika, an AAUP National Council member. Kumanyika referred to Trump’s UCLA demands as “extortion.”
The panel also featured Aaron Krall, an English lecturer at the University of Illinois Chicago. He is the president of UIC Faculty United, another union on campus.
He said his union is actively working with community organizations on “rapid response” to ICE operations, and giddily informed Luce and Kumanyika that in Chicago, “everybody’s got a whistle now.”
Cook County Sheriff Police detain a protester outside an ICE processing facility in the Chicago suburb of Broadview, Ill., Friday, Nov. 14, 2025. (Nam Y. Huh/AP Photo)
Anti-ICE activists have taken to blowing whistles when agents are conducting operations, signaling community members and other activists to mob and film the agents as they work, causing havoc.
“But this is a way to make people feel comfortable going out into the streets and pushing back, saying that we disapprove, yelling at the fascists, getting in their faces,” Krall said. “It’s been amazing.”
He told Kumanyika he “didn’t want to go into the rapid response training too much,” with a coy smile.
“I get it,” Kumanyika replied with a chuckle. “Like, there’s only so granular we’re going to get about the nature of the planning.”
Referring to ICE arrests, Krall also claimed that the law enforcement entity had “abducted” people from Chicago.
Krall, Kumanyika, UCLA and the AAUP did not respond to requests for comment.
