The University of California, Los Angeles is one public institution of higher education that Trump stopped sending federal money following civil rights complaints on campus.
Campus Reform's Zachary Marschall says this billion-dollar settlement to unfreeze $584 million in federal funding has been on the table "for months now."
The proposal is a three-year reform plan that calls on UCLA to set up a $172 million reparations fund for victims of civil rights violations on the campus, including antisemitism.
The institution must also pay $1 billion in penalties for over a period of five years, and UCLA has to affirm there are only two genders.
"The administration wants them to end trans procedures on minors," Marschall reports.
Additionally, this proposal emphasizes acculturation and assimilation.
"It is not at all saying you cannot have foreign students on campus, but you need to be able to make sure that they're not there to be anti-Western, anti-American, or antisemitic," the college news editor relays.
Believing that is where higher education went wrong, he calls that "a very positive part of this story."
Many foreign students have taken advantage of American higher education, "using it as a platform to launch protests against this country and the West," he says. "I think the Trump administration encouraging cultural assimilation is a good thing. It'll help restore higher education."
Marschall is, however, "cognizant" that UCLA, Harvard, and others are only going along with this because they want their money.
"They're coming from greed," he asserts. "Think about how you still compel behavior of people who are going to Harvard, their prejudices and resentments, after these mechanisms are played out."
He thinks that is a long-term concern that conservatives need to be thinking about while celebrating short-term victories.
In this case, Marschall predicts UCLA will revert back to its old ways once the payback timeline ends.
The 28-page document between the Trump administration and UCLA has not yet been made public, but Campus Reform reports it underscores institutional independence by affirming that the government cannot "dictate faculty hiring, university hiring, admission decisions, or the content of academic speech."
It encourages UCLA to adopt "policies to protect faculty and students from retaliation for expressing minority opinions or engaging in free expression," prioritizing a clear commitment to academic freedom and open inquiry.
