The poor, little, rich, elite state school that countenanced some of the nation’s most heinous, anti-Semitic, pro-Hamas protests is now very upset that they’ve had half-a-billion in federal dollars that they thought was their own frozen.
Alas, the entitlements of the entitled seem to be coming to an end — if, of course, they decide to aid and abet the dregs of academic society.
According to Reuters, the University of California, Los Angeles announced Wednesday that $584 million in federal funding for the school had been frozen by President Donald Trump’s administration because of “protests” the Department of Justice said violated federal civil rights law.
In July, UCLA reached a $6 million settlement with a Jewish professor and three Jewish students at the school who sued over civil rights violations because they were blocked from classes and other areas on campus, the Associated Press reported.
The move came one day after the DOJ found that the school violated Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment and Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 due to the fact that they acted “with deliberate indifference in creating a hostile educational environment for Jewish and Israeli students.”
On Wednesday evening, Chancellor Julio Frenk said in an announcement that the school had looked at the amount of money that was likely to be frozen in the form of federal research funding. It wasn’t inconsiderable.
Via a statement released Wednesday:
Many of you are understandably concerned and have questions during this time. On Monday, senior leaders held a town hall that brought together 3,150 faculty and staff. We will continue to hold town halls, convene office hours and share information with you, particularly those who are in the most directly affected areas. This includes departments that rely on funding from the National Science Foundation, National Institutes of Health and Department of Energy.
Since Monday’s town hall, we have been able to tabulate an estimate of the impact of the recent grant suspensions. Currently, a total of approximately $584 million in extramural award funding is suspended and at risk. If these funds remain suspended, it will be devastating for UCLA and for Americans across the nation. [Emphasis ours.]
Do you trust colleges and universities to be good stewards of our tax dollars?
Yes, well, that’s going to lead to a lot of sad-drinking binges in administrative buildings tonight. Perhaps school officials ought to have thought about this before they allowed the aforementioned rabblement to pretty much take over campus and have their way on behalf of terrorist thugs, using tactics that mirrored theirs in spirit if not intensity.
There was no immediate comment from the White House, according to Reuters.
However, as Reuters noted, the prospect of not being able to suckle so generously at the government teat had brought several other research-centric universities, which had allowed similarly rebarbative activity in the aftermath of the Oct. 7, 2023 terrorist attacks, to the table with very serious concessions:
The government has in recent weeks settled its probes with Columbia University, which agreed to pay over $220 million, and Brown University, which said it will pay $50 million. Both institutions accepted certain government demands. Talks to settle with Harvard University are ongoing.
All of these universities, it’s worth noting, talked a big game when the government announced it was playing hardball with them over wokeness, especially anti-Semitic wokeness. They were going to play hardball right back, they declared!
Until, of course, no one was looking, then they weren’t.
UCLA is little different, although Frenk — seeming to learn from prior experience when it came to Columbia, Brown, and probably Harvard — emphasized a note of solidarity among those in academe, not a call to arms:
We are doing everything we can to protect the interests of faculty, students and staff — and to defend our values and principles. The UC Board of Regents and the UC Office of the President are providing counsel as we actively evaluate our best course of action …
As we actively seek to restore funding for our vital research while defending our core values, I will continue engaging with our faculty and all members of our community
UCLA’s greatness comes from the dedication our Bruin community shows in our most challenging moments. I want to extend my heartfelt thanks to all of you for your resilience and how much you care about your fellow Bruins. UCLA has faced defining moments before, and we get through them — together.
Probably by genuflecting to reality — together — to get the money they thought was already theirs by right, even before it was disbursed.
Just remember, UCLA faculty, how righteous you felt when you let all of those anti-Semitic protesters run wild on your campus and terrify innocent Jewish students. You’ll be paying for it for a long, long time.
Advertise with The Western Journal and reach millions of highly engaged readers, while supporting our work. Advertise Today.
