Amid a funding blackout at one of California's largest universities, a San Francisco federal judge ordered the Trump administration to restore more than $500 million in research grants to UCLA. The decision was made Monday by U.S. District Judge Rita Lin after U.S. President Donald Trump cut off $584 million in funding to the university at the end of July over allegations of antisemitism and civil rights violations.
The opinion by U.S. District Judge Rita F. Lin of the Northern District of California added hundreds of UCLA's National Institutes of Health grants to an ongoing class-action lawsuit that had already led to the reversal of tens of millions of dollars in grants from the National Science Foundation, Environmental Protection Agency, National Endowment for the Humanities and other federal agencies to UC campuses.
Perkins, who could not be reached for comment, issued a statement through Linkedin - which has since been taken down - stating that he had deactivated all social media accounts with the exception of Instagram and that he had received multiple death threats. He said his home address and phone number had also been made public by critics because "I said it's okay to be happy when a racist who called for your eradication dies."
The Trump administration's settlement proposal to UCLA - which includes a nearly $1.2-billion fine over allegations of antisemitism and civil rights violations - seeks to drastically overhaul campus practices on hiring, admissions, sports, scholarships, discrimination and gender identity, a Times review of the document shows. The 28-page letter - whose full contents have not been made public - also lays out in sweeping detail how it wants the university to enforce new policies that adhere to the president's conservative agenda.
UCLA scientists, medical professors and graduate students are accustomed to presenting their research - into cancer, stroke, brain injury, nerve regeneration - at conferences of their peers with the aid of high-tech audio and visual equipment. But in back-to-back events in Westwood Village and on a campus courtyard this week, they tapped into their high school memories, erecting hand-made posters on easels and bringing in props from their labs - including a human brain - to simply explain their complex work.
UCLA, which earned the No. 1 spot last year, was bumped down to the second-best public university in the nation, just behind the University of Michigan, in Niche's 2026 Best Colleges in America rankings, published Monday. ( Niche considers factors such as student reviews, academics, professors, the campus, diversity, safety and student life.) The only other California school that cracked the top 10 on the list of best public universities was UC Berkeley at No. 9.
The collaboration to establish the Berry Gordy Music Industry Scholarship honors the legacy of Berry Gordy, founder of Motown and an influential architect of modern music.
