James B. Milliken assumes role as new UC president
James B. Milliken, former chancellor of the University of Texas system, began his tenure as the 22nd president of the University of California on Aug. 1. He succeeds Michael V. Drake, who announced last July that he would step down at the end of the 2024-25 academic year.
The UC Board of Regents approved Milliken’s appointment on May 2. During his tenureship at UT, Milliken led an initiative to cover tuition for students with a family income below $100,000 and oversaw almost $5 billion in annual research expenditures.
“The University of California is universally regarded as the preeminent public research university in the world, and I am deeply honored to have an opportunity to join the many talented faculty, staff, and campus leaders in their vital work,” Milliken said in the appointment announcement. “It is more important than ever that we expand the education, research, health care, and public service for which UC is so widely admired and which has benefited so many Californians.”
Milliken is inheriting the UC system at a pivotal moment in which the system is facing pressure to comply with federal demands. On Aug. 8, the Trump administration announced it is seeking a $1 billion settlement from UC Los Angeles over allegations of antisemitism. Other demands have reached beyond the UC, including a February memo from the Department of Education stating that educational institutions cannot use race in decisions across “all” aspects of student life.
The UC is also facing state budget cuts. At the start of the year, California Governor Gavin Newsom proposed an 8% budget cut for the 2025-26 academic year, which he reduced to 3% in May.
UCLA partially regains lost federal research funding
A federal judge ordered the Trump administration to partially restore research grants it had suspended at UCLA last month. The court ruled on Aug. 12 that the National Science Foundation (NSF) must restore 300 suspended grants.
The administration suspended about 800 grants in total, amounting to $584 million. The National Institutes of Health had granted the other 500.
“While we have not had an opportunity to review the court’s order and were not party to the suit, restoration of National Science Foundation funds is critical to research the University of California performs on behalf of California and the nation,” the UC said in a statement to NBC.
On Aug. 1, the NSF sent a letter to UCLA claiming the University admitted students based on race and relying on admissions essays to determine the race of applicants. California banned public universities from using affirmative action in 1996 after passing Proposition 209.
“We are doing everything we can to meet this moment head on and restore UCLA’s federal funding,” UCLA Chancellor Julio Frenk said in a statement on Aug. 15. “I am routinely meeting with UC President Milliken, members of the UC Board of Regents, and the chancellors of the UC campuses to take a clear-eyed, strategic look at our options and find the best path forward for our community.”
UC ordered to reconsider policy against hiring undocumented students
A panel of California judges ruled that the UC must reconsider its policy barring universities from hiring undocumented students on Aug. 5. The ruling states the policy “facially discriminates based on immigration status.”
UCLA alums Jeffry Umaña Muñoz and lecturer Iliana Perez filed a lawsuit in October 2024 alleging that the UC violated the California Fair Employment and Housing Act. According to the act, employers cannot discriminate against various factors including immigration status.
The lawsuit came after the years-long Opportunity For All campaign that began in 2022. Founded by the UCLA School of Law, undocumented students and the University’s labor center, the campaign aims to lift the hiring restriction. It utilizes a legal theory by the UCLA Center for Immigration Law and Policy that argues federal immigration policy does not prohibit state entities from hiring based on legal status. The federal government prohibits United States employers from hiring undocumented individuals under the 1986 Immigration Reform and Control Act.
In May 2023, the Board of Regents agreed to explore an implementation plan but rescinded the policy in early 2024. At the time, former UC President Drake said the proposal “[carried] significant risk for the institutions and for those [they] serve.”
According to the Daily Bruin, the UC is currently reviewing the court’s ruling. “To the extent it’s compliant with the law, the University continues to believe undocumented students deserve the same opportunities as our other students,” Stett Holbrook, a spokesperson for the UC Office of the President, said in a statement to the Daily Bruin.
