A federal judge has halted the Trump administration’s effort to cut funding and impose steep penalties on the University of California, ruling that the government overstepped its authority in an attempt to push universities toward conservative ideology.
US district judge Rita Lin issued a preliminary injunction late Friday, preventing officials from seeking payments or withholding federal support based on claims that the UC system tolerated antisemitism and engaged in affirmative action. Lin wrote that plaintiffs had provided “overwhelming evidence” of a “concerted campaign to purge ‘woke,’ ‘left’ and ‘socialist’ viewpoints from our country’s leading universities”.
Her order described what she called a government “playbook of initiating civil rights investigations” to pressure institutions financially, “bringing universities to their knees and forcing them to change their ideological tune”.
The dispute intensified after the administration froze $584 million in federal funding for the University of California, Los Angeles, accusing UCLA of violating civil rights by its response to pro Palestinian demonstrations in 2024. Officials alleged the campus was “acting with deliberate indifference in creating a hostile educational environment for Jewish and Israeli students”.
In October, the administration proposed agreements to nine major universities, offering funding in exchange for sweeping policy changes that included banning consideration of race or sex in hiring and admissions and eliminating departments that “purposefully punish, belittle and even spark violence against conservative ideas”. The UC system did not receive the offer, although the University of Southern California did.
California governor Gavin Newsom warned that any institution in the state that accepted the settlement would lose state funding.
Democracy Forward, a progressive legal advocacy group, condemned the administration’s approach, calling it “strong arm tactics” and “a harmful attempt to stifle speech”. The group added that the effort was “a betrayal of the constitution and a dangerous step toward autocracy”.
Related Readings:
