Op-Ed: Trump’s attack on UCLA is a threat to every public university in the nation

On August 24, 2025, The Sacramento Bee published this Op-Ed from Mel Levine, chair of the California Coalition for Public Higher Education:

When the federal government freezes more than half a billion dollars in university research funding and demands an additional unprecedented $1 billion “settlement,” it’s not simply a policy dispute. For UCLA, one of the most important public universities in the nation, it is an action that threatens the independence and success of every public university in the nation — and claiming that these cuts relate to antisemitism is a fantasy.

The courts agree. Recently, a federal judge blocked the Trump administration’s attempt to withhold some of the $584 million in suspended research funds, ruling that such punitive measures exceed its authority and cause irreparable harm.

As chair of the California Coalition for Public Higher Education and a proud University of California graduate, I know that the federal government’s latest demands aren’t just an existential threat to UCLA — they also represent a clear and present danger to all public universities, and our country as a whole.

UCLA has the unfortunate honor of becoming the first public university to be targeted by a funding freeze based on dubious “civil rights violation” claims, following similar threats to private universities, including Harvard, Columbia, Brown and the University of Pennsylvania. If this tactic succeeds, it will become the playbook for punishing any university that challenges those in power. And if it can happen here — in California’s crown jewel of higher education — it can happen anywhere.

Let’s be clear: UCLA unequivocally condemns antisemitism and all forms of hate. It launched an Initiative to Combat Antisemitism, participated in establishing a systemwide civil rights office and regularly partners with Jewish organizations across the country to ensure its campus is a safe and welcoming place for all. Freezing critical research funding does nothing to protect students.

UCLA is a global leader in research, innovation, education and healthcare. What happens on its campus benefits every American. Federal grants fueled Bruin-led breakthroughs in organ transplant medicine, life-saving cancer therapies and the invention of the internet. Today, UCLA researchers are working to advance artificial intelligence, protect our troops and improve energy efficiency.

Suspending this work doesn’t just hurt California, it makes the entire country less competitive, less safe and less able to tackle the urgent challenges of our time.

The numbers tell their own story: The UC employs 529,000 people and annually generates $82 billion in economic activity. For every $1 it receives, it creates $21 in economic output. Federal cuts would devastate our nation’s greatest public university system, damage economies and choke innovation pipelines that power U.S. industry.

At stake are more than 800 research grants, affecting projects from climate resilience to Alzheimer’s treatment. Across the UC system, $2 billion in National Institutes of Health funding could be jeopardized if this tactic spreads.

Public universities exist to serve all people — not one party or administration. They’re home to students of every background, religion and political belief. They provide the knowledge, talent and discoveries that improve lives and strengthen our democracy.

California should and does welcome real accountability that strengthens campus safety and inclusion. But holding life-saving research hostage undermines our national competitiveness, robs students of opportunity and puts lives at risk. It’s bad policy, bad precedent and bad for America.

If we allow our universities to be silenced through political coercion, we will all pay the price. But if we stand together, we can ensure that America’s public universities remain what they have always been: places where knowledge triumphs over politics, where research serves the common good and where the future is built on ideas, not intimidation.

All Californians — regardless of policy and perspective — must now stand firmly behind the UC. What’s at stake is nothing less than the future of higher education and our democracy.

Mel Levine chairs the California Coalition for Public Higher Education. He is a former U.S. congressmember and state assemblymember from Los Angeles.