President Donald Trump's $1 billion demand from UCLA shocked the University of California community and provoked reactions ranging from horror and fear for academic freedom to resigned acceptance. Targeting UC differs from going after private Ivy League institutions because UC is a public institution funded by California taxpayers. The demand would effectively seize state tax dollars and implicate Californians across the political spectrum. The University of California serves as steward of taxpayer resources and must answer to the people while fulfilling the state's Master Plan to create knowledge and educate Californians. A $1 billion payment would substantially harm the public university and general welfare.
For those of us on the inside, the announcement elicited a range of responses. Some faculty and staff reacted with horror, others voiced increasing fear about the ongoing assault on academic freedom, and some merely muttered in sad resignation to the new reality. I laughed. The president has decided to poke the bear and the Bears and the Bruins, too.
Pressuring UC to pay a large sum has another dimension entirely: It's going after state tax dollars paid by the people of California. This should matter to folks on the left and the right, to those who venerate higher education and those who vote in favor of states' rights against federal overreach. Californians across the political spectrum should repurpose one of Trump's own slogans: Stop the steal.
Collection
[
|
...
]