Coalition sues Trump over ‘unconstitutional’ bid to control universities
Sept. 17 (UPI) — A coalition of faculty, staff, students and labor unions sued the Trump administration on Tuesday, accusing it of stifling free speech at the University of California system amid President Donald Trump’s attempt to exert ideological control of the United States’ institutions of higher learning.
The lawsuit filed Tuesday by the American Association of University Professors asks the court to bar the Trump administration from using financial threats to illegally coerce the UC into conceding to its demands — demands the union said not only interfere with UC’s curriculum and activity, but are a threat to the country.
“Rather than acknowledging education institutions like the UC as the asset to the nation that they are, the Trump administration views them as barriers to the President’s agenda of ideological dominance,” the coalition said in the lawsuit.
“Once in office, President Trump gained access to tools of the United States government that his administration is wielding, unlawfully, to seek to stamp out movements, opinions and ideas that challenge his worldview. The President’s attempt to require that universities conform to his worldview is un-American and unconstitutional.”
The Trump administration has targeted dozens of universities, in particular so-called elite institutions, with executive orders, lawsuits, reallocation of resources and threats over a swath of allegations, from anti-Semitism to having diversity, equity and inclusion policies.
Critics have accused Trump of trying to coerce schools under threat of stringent punishments from losing their accreditation to paying hefty fines sometimes in excess of $1 billion to adopt his far-right policies.
In late July, the University of California, Los Angeles, which is a member of the UC system, had half a billion in research funds cut after the Justice Department said it had violated the Civil Rights Act over allegedly failing to protect Jewish students amid pro-Palestine protests.
Last month, the Justice Department offered UCLA a $1 billion settlement to unfreeze the research grants.
The lawsuit states that a Aug. 8 letter sent to the UC system includes ceding control over curriculum, faculty hiring and promotion and university administration to the federal government and its government-appointed monitor.
It also demanded it adopt restrictions on protests and other expressive activity, agree to disclose student disciplinary records, eliminate DEI measures, announce it does not recognized transgender individuals and end its gender-inclusive policies and gender-affirming medical care to minors.
The union not only said that the Trump administration failed to provide reasoning behind its decision to terminate $585 million in research grants, but called its $1 billion settlement demand a “ransom” payment.
“The punishments inflicted on UC as part of this campaign of ideological control exceed what is permitted under the law,” the lawsuit states.
“In defiance of applicable law, Defendants have unilaterally and without warning punished the UC by cutting off hundreds of millions of dollars in essential research grant funding, with threats to withhold more, before any finding has been made by any competent tribunal of wrongdoing, without any hearing and without providing the UC and other affected stakeholders with their right under federal law to contest any finding of wrongdoing.”
In a letter to the UC community on Monday, UC President James Milliken described the actions taken by the Trump administration as “the gravest threat to the University of California in our 157-year history.”
He said the federal government is pursuing investigation and actions against all 10 UC campuses.
“The University of California has weathered many challenges since its founding. We will do so again — but it will undoubtedly be a difficult process for our community,” he said.
“That fact is that we are in uncharted waters. Our top priority now is protecting this institution — its resources, its mission and its values — for the sake of everyone we serve.”