• A coalition of UC students, faculty, and unions has sued the Trump administration.
• The lawsuit focuses on alleged unlawful funding freezes and attacks on free speech.
• The plaintiffs argue these actions threaten academic integrity across the UC system.
• The administration is accused of using funding threats to enforce a conservative agenda.
• UC President James Milliken calls the situation one of the gravest threats in its history.

A coalition comprising over 100,000 employees, including students, faculty, and labor unions from the University of California (UC) filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration in a federal court in San Francisco on September 16. The suit alleges that the administration is unlawfully undermining academic freedom and stifling free speech by threatening to withhold federal funding, with a significant focus on the recent suspension of $1.2 billion in research grants to UCLA. The lawsuit claims this represents one of the most serious political threats in the UC’s 157-year history, as maintaining academic integrity hangs in the balance, according to latimes, indiatimes, aa, and reuters.

The lawsuit outlines that the Trump administration has utilized the threat of federal funding revocations to impose compliance with politically motivated demands that oppose the core values of the UC system, particularly surrounding issues of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI). According to the complaint, federal investigations and funding freezes have been used selectively, particularly targeting institutions that embrace progressive policies in their curriculum, which the administration deems "woke," thereby infringing on academic freedom, according to latimes and reuters.

President James Milliken of the UC system has voiced profound concerns, indicating that the ongoing actions represent "one of the gravest threats" faced by the university. He stated that the system relies on over $17 billion in federal funding annually, critical for its operations amid the financial pressures exerted by the government, according to indiatimes and aa.

The legal action has been prompted by growing frustrations over the Trump administration's aggressive strategy to impose ideological conformity through financial coercion, which has seemingly escalated since examining protests and allegations of antisemitism at universities. The coalition asserts that the concurrent actions are a direct attack on free expression and academic independence, leading to denouncements from various faculty associations and unions across the UC system, according to reuters and aa.