History professor Christine Philliou, another plaintiff in the lawsuit, claims that she lost a $250,000 National Endowment for the Humanities grant to study Greek Orthodoxy Christians in 19th century Turkey. The funding was canceling without any explanation, other than a note stating that the administration’s priorities have changed, leaving Philliou and her team “flabbergasted.”
Faculty and researchers at the University of California have filed a lawsuit against President Donald Trump and several federal agencies, claiming that a recent wave of grant terminations has led to chaos in academia.
According to NBC News, the proposed class-action lawsuit alleges that, alongside layoffs, the administration’s decision to revoke grants to many universities has halted a wide range of projects, from research on the health effects of wildfire smoke to an attempt to digitize and share Mark Twain’s work with the general public.
Plaintiff Claudia Polsky, the founding director of the environmental law clinic at the University of California, told NBC News that—while she herself has yet to suffer from funding cuts—she hopes her suit will have nationwide repercussions.
“I really think the faculty are ultimately going to have to stand up for themselves,” said Polsky, who is also one of the attorneys litigating the claim.
The Trump administration has justified its revocation of grants by pointing to alleged acts of antisemitism that occurred on University of California campuses during last year’s wave of pro-Palestine protests.
“The University of California abhors antisemitism and is diligently working to address, counter, and eradicate it in all its forms across the system,” a UC spokesperson said in a statement.
NBC News notes that the University of California system, comprised of 10 campuses located throughout the state, conducts about 8% of all academic research in the country.
History professor Christine Philliou, another plaintiff in the lawsuit, claims that she lost a $250,000 National Endowment for the Humanities grant to study Greek Orthodoxy Christians in 19th century Turkey. The funding was canceling without any explanation, other than a note stating that the administration’s priorities have changed, leaving Philliou and her team “flabbergasted.”
“We believed in rule of law and felt like, ‘Well, we have this grant; they can’t just take it last-minute,” she told NBC News.
The White House has since responded to the lawsuit by saying that colleges and universities are not, and never have been, entitled to taxpayer money.
“Research grants are not a government entitlement that is guaranteed by the First Amendment,” White House spokesman Kush Desai said.
Desai also said that President Donald Trump is eager to “restore common sense and realign government spending to match the priorities of the American people.”
The University of California is not listed as a plaintiff in the lawsuit, and has clarified that it is in no way involved with the case.
“Individual UC Berkeley faculty have every right to pursue litigation on their own behalf,” UC Berkeley spokesperson Dan Mogulof wrote in a statement. “The campus administration has played no role in the initiation, development, or funding of this legal action.”
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UC Berkeley researchers team up for first-of-its-kind lawsuit over Trump funding cuts
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