August 13, 2025
Dear UC colleagues,
Last Friday (August 8), the University of California received a document from the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) containing a series of demands, which included a proposed settlement payment of $1 billion. In a statement responding to the proposal, UC President James B. Milliken said “a payment of this scale would completely devastate our country’s greatest public university system as well as inflict great harm on our students and all Californians.”
The federal administration proposed this payment as one stipulation of restoring an estimated $584 million in critical federal research funding to UCLA that was suspended in late July. UC leadership is working to have this critical research funding from the National Institutes of Health (NIH), National Science Foundation (NSF), and the Department of Energy (DOE) restored. On August 12, U.S. District Judge Rita F. Lin ruled in a case brought by a group of UC researchers that the administration’s NSF grant suspensions violated her June ruling about NSF grant terminations and directed the administration to restore hundreds of NSF grants to UCLA, which the NSF has now done.
President Milliken has been working closely with his leadership team, chancellors and the UC Board of Regents to evaluate every option and determine our best course of action. A special closed session meeting of the Board of Regents was held Monday, Aug. 11, after which the University issued a statement.
External Relations & Communications teams have engaged in comprehensive communications, social, and media relations efforts. After learning of the DOJ’s proposal on Friday, we quickly launched a Stand Up for UC campaign and called on students, faculty, staff and alumni to make their voices heard. In the days following, we launched a “Pledge to Stand Up for UC” through the UC Advocacy Network (UCAN) and added additional social media language and assets to the campaign page. We will continue to add to and offer new ways for everyone in our UC community to stay connected and show their support in ways that feel right for them. If you have not already, please join this campaign and pledge your support to #StandUpForUC.
We also launched a new National Security webpage and video highlighting the University's work to protect the United States through leading-edge science and technological innovation. From the work that takes place at our three affiliated national labs to the research across the system in areas such as AI, quantum computing and materials science, UC plays a vital role in keeping all Americans safe.
Best,
Meredith Vivian Turner
Senior Vice President
External Relations & Communications
UC Office of the President
University Response & Communications
Statement following August 11 UC Board of Regents meeting (Aug. 11)
UCLA Chancellor Julio Frenk’s update on protecting the research mission (Aug. 6)
New Resources
Stand Up for UC: Campaign in support of the future of the nation’s leading public university system.
National Security webpage highlighting UC’s research contributions to U.S. national security.
Media Highlights
Los Angeles Times: UCLA and Newsom go to battle with Trump over grant freezes, $1-billion fine -
Times of Israel: California Jewish groups say Trump's $1B demand of UCLA ‘doesn't make Jewish students safer’
The Forward: California Jewish groups say Trump $1B demand of UCLA ‘does not make Jewish students safer’
Jewish News Service: State Jewish legislators denounce Trump admin’s $1b settlement offer to University of California
Politico: Trump says the settlement is about antisemitism. California Jewish leaders disagree.
Los Angeles Times: Trump administration must restore hundreds of UCLA research grants, judge rules
For ongoing updates and resources, please visit the UC Federal Updates website.