"Six months after he took over as UC Berkeley's chancellor in mid-2024, Donald Trump was sworn in as president for the second time, ushering in an era of unprecedented tension between the federal government and universities. As the Trump administration has attacked higher education's independence launching investigations into colleges' handling of antisemitism and efforts to attract a diverse faculty and student body, and demanding sweeping changes to admissions, hiring and curriculum institutions are seeing their reputations defined by their response to the pressure."
"Trump officials and Congressional Republicans have initiated at least seven separate investigations into UC Berkeley since 2024, and the administration had revoked $50 million in federal research grants to the campus as of December. Lyons, the first UC Berkeley chancellor to have earned an undergraduate degree at Cal, remains ebullient regarding the university and its future. He's the university's former head of innovation and entrepreneurship, and the kind of chief executive who hosts a panel discussion titled Why Kind Leaders Win."
"Last year, as the Trump administration began revoking research grants nationwide, some faculty publicly wondered whether Lyons had the temperament to fiercely defend UC Berkeley from what they saw as an existential threat. He drew sharp criticism from free speech advocates when the university shared with the Trump administration unredacted files from internal antisemitism investigations that named 160 faculty and students, and again when it suspended computer science lecturer Peyrin Kao for comments he made in the classroom about the war in Gaza."
Rich Lyons became UC Berkeley chancellor in mid-2024 and immediately faced pressure after Donald Trump began a second presidential term. The federal government launched investigations into universities' handling of antisemitism and diversity and demanded changes to admissions, hiring, and curriculum. Trump officials and Congressional Republicans opened at least seven probes into UC Berkeley and the administration revoked $50 million in federal research grants to the campus by December. Lyons, an alumnus and former head of innovation and entrepreneurship, remained optimistic. Controversies included sharing unredacted investigation files naming 160 faculty and students and suspending a lecturer over classroom comments about Gaza.
Read at www.berkeleyside.org
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