American Association of University Professors v. Trump (University of California System)

Summary

In September 2025, the American Association of University Professors (AAUP), along with University of California faculty, staff, students, and labor unions, filed a federal lawsuit against the Trump administration. The complaint alleged that the administration had unlawfully withheld approximately $584 million in federal research grants to UCLA and sought to impose sweeping policy conditions on the university. The proposed settlement reportedly included demands that UCLA pay up to $1 billion and adopt changes such as eliminating diversity scholarships, modifying protest rules, providing federal access to student and faculty records, and allowing oversight by a federally appointed resolution monitor, which the plaintiffs described as coercive and unlawful. The AAUP stated that the litigation responded to what it called the administration’s illegal use of civil rights laws and federal funding to restrict free speech and academic freedom across the University of California system. The lawsuit followed earlier suspensions tied to civil rights investigations, including allegations that UCLA had failed to address antisemitism and other forms of discrimination.

In early November 2025, a coalition of 25 student organizations filed an amicus brief supporting the lawsuit, arguing that the administration’s funding cuts and related demands chilled campus free speech, discouraged faculty and students from discussing diversity, equity, inclusion, and international issues, and disproportionately harmed marginalized communities such as noncitizen and transgender students. On November 6, 2025, Judge Rita F. Lin of the United States District Court for the Northern District of California heard the case, citing overwhelming evidence that the administration had publicly punished what it labeled woke and left viewpoints, and that faculty had altered what they taught or researched out of fear of retaliation. She described the conduct as a classic First Amendment injury and criticized the administration’s tactics as potentially lawless and profoundly damaging to academic freedom.

On November 14, 2025, Judge Lin issued a preliminary injunction barring the administration from freezing or threatening federal funding to the University of California system. She found that many suspension notices resembled mass form letter terminations with no individualized explanation, likely violating the Administrative Procedure Act, and emphasized that the federal government could not condition funding on ideological conformity or unrelated policy changes. The injunction sought to prevent continuing harm, preserve constitutional and statutory rights, and protect academic freedom across the UC system. The AAUP characterized the ruling as a major victory for faculty, staff, students, and unions.