Trump offers UCLA $1bn settlement amid pro-Palestine protest standoff

The projected colony is the highest yet, arsenic Trump continues unit universities to taxable to wide-ranging demands.

The medication of United States President Donald Trump has requested that the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), taxable to a $1bn colony to resoluteness accusations stemming from the school’s handling of pro-Palestine protests.

A White House authoritative and the University of California strategy some confirmed the projected colony to quality agencies connected Friday.

The colony connection is notable for the monolithic sum requested, arsenic the Trump medication seeks to unit apical schools into compliance with its policies.

The $1bn terms tag would acold transcend the payouts inked successful erstwhile agreements reached with Columbia University and Brown University past month. Columbia agreed to wage a good of astir $221m, and Brown confirmed it would wage $50m to a authorities workforce improvement programme.

“The University of California conscionable received a papers from the Department of Justice and is reviewing it,” University of California President James Milliken said successful a statement.

He added that the instauration had offered to person talks with the authorities earlier this week.

UCLA, which boasts the largest pupil assemblage successful the University of California system, had besides announced this week that the Trump medication suspended $584m successful national grants to the school.

The Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division explained that the backing would beryllium frozen arsenic a effect of civilian rights violations connected to pro-Palestinian protests since 2023. The schoolhouse had acted “with deliberate indifference successful creating a hostile acquisition situation for Jewish and Israeli students”, it said.

Free-speech advocates, however, person accused the Trump medication of willfully conflating pro-Palestine and antiwar advocacy with anti-Semitism successful bid to soundlessness protesters.

Last month, UCLA reached a $6m colony with 3 Jewish students and a Jewish prof who claimed their civilian rights were violated by pro-Palestinian protesters blocking their entree to people and different areas connected field during a 2024 protestation encampment.

It was not instantly wide wherefore the $1bn colony sought by the Trump medication was truthful high.

UCLA is besides the archetypal publically funded assemblage to look a imaginable assistance frost from the Trump administration. In his statement, Milliken said the outgo would person wide-ranging consequences.

“As a nationalist university, we are stewards of payer resources, and a outgo of this standard would wholly devastate our country’s top nationalist assemblage strategy arsenic good arsenic inflict large harm connected our students and each Californians,” helium said.

Civil liberties organisations person besides underscored that students astatine publically funded universities are typically afforded wider law protections portion connected campus.

That stands successful opposition to backstage institutions, wherever students are mostly taxable to immoderate restrictions connected code are outlined by administrators successful their enrollment agreement.

The First Amendment of the US Constitution restricts the government’s quality to bounds escaped speech. Any aboriginal statement betwixt the University of California strategy and the Trump medication mightiness look a ineligible challenge, should it beryllium perceived to trample connected free-speech rights.

Speaking connected Thursday, California Governor Gavin Newsom, who has been 1 of Trump’s astir vocal Democratic opponents, urged the state’s assemblage officials not to kowtow to the administration’s demands.

“We’re not Brown, we’re not Columbia, and I’m not going to beryllium politician if we enactment similar that,” Newsom said, according to the Los Angeles Times. “Period. Full stop. I volition combat similar hellhole to marque definite that doesn’t happen.”

Source:

Al Jazeera and quality agencies