University of California students, professors and staff sue the Trump administration: Here’s why the case could set a national precedent

A coalition of students, professors, staff, and labour unions from the University of California (UC) has filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration, accusing it of unlawfully using civil rights laws to undermine academic freedom and restrict free speech across all ten UC campuses.The lawsuit, filed in federal court in San Francisco, claims that the administration’s actions amount to one of the most serious threats in the university system’s 157-year history. The plaintiffs include student organisations, faculty members, staff, and every labour union representing UC workers. They are represented by the legal group Democracy Forward and the American Association of University Professors (AAUP) union.Federal funding used as leverage, lawsuit claimsAccording to the lawsuit, the Trump administration has repeatedly used the threat of terminating federal funding to pressure UC institutions into compliance with a series of civil rights-related demands. As reported by the Associated Press, the federal government recently fined the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) $1.2 billion and froze additional research funding, alleging the university permitted antisemitism on campus and violated federal civil rights laws.

UCLA is the first public university to face a funding freeze of this scale under the Trump administration. Similar actions have reportedly been taken against private institutions such as Harvard, Brown, and Columbia.The complaint asserts that the administration has used the Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights and the Department of Justice to initiate investigations targeting universities and school districts across the country.

The UC system reportedly receives over $17 billion annually in federal support, including nearly $10 billion in Medicare and Medicaid funding, as well as student financial aid and research funding.Settlement demands include data access and policy changesThe administration’s proposed settlement with UCLA included several demands that, according to the lawsuit, threaten academic integrity and university autonomy. These include ending diversity scholarships, banning overnight demonstrations on university property, cooperating with immigration enforcement, releasing admissions and hiring data, and providing government access to staff, student, and faculty information.University of California President James Milliken confirmed that federal investigations have been launched into all 10 UC campuses. “This represents one of the gravest threats to the University of California in our 157-year history,” Milliken said, as quoted by the Associated Press.Columbia settlement cited as template for federal actionsAccording to the Associated Press, the Trump administration has used its recent settlement with Columbia University as a model for its broader actions.

Columbia agreed to pay $200 million in response to similar federal allegations and regained access to more than $400 million in research grants.The lawsuit filed by UC stakeholders alleges that the administration’s use of civil rights enforcement mechanisms is selective and politically motivated. The suit states, “The blunt cudgel the Trump administration has repeatedly employed in this attack on the independence of institutions of higher education has been the abrupt, unilateral, and unlawful termination of federal research funding on which those institutions and the public interest rely,” as reported by the Associated Press.Wider legal context of Trump administration lawsuitsThe Associated Press reports that during President Donald Trump’s current administration, hundreds of lawsuits have been filed challenging executive orders and administrative actions. Of these, 138 have been partially or fully blocked, 91 have been upheld, and 91 remain pending.The Department of Justice and the US Department of Education have not issued public comments regarding the UC lawsuit.