UC President James B. Milliken warns that proposed cuts to federal funding could be devastating for the UC system and California as a whole. In a letter addressed to State Sen. Scott D. Wiener, Milliken responded to the recent events involving the UC system and the federal government on Sept. 3.
According to the LA Times, Wiener and 33 other state senators and assembly members previously wrote to Milliken asking for the UC system to stand firm against threats and attacks from the Trump administration. The administration suspended $584 million in research funding for UCLA because of alleged civil rights violations against Jewish students. The administration asked for UCLA to pay almost $1 billion in order to reobtain the funding.
The suspended funding includes 300 National Science Foundation Grants and 500 National Institutes of Health Grants. Although UCLA is the only UC school targeted at the moment, Milliken wrote in his letter that the “entire University of California system [is] at risk.”
According to Milliken, the UC system receives over $17 billion a year from the federal government. The money is used for Medicare and Medicaid, research and student financial aid.
“A substantial loss of federal funding would devastate our university and cause enormous harm to our students, our patients and all Californians,” Milliken wrote. “Classes and student services would be reduced, patients would be turned away, tens of thousands of jobs would be lost and we would see UC’s world-renowned researchers leaving our state for other more seemingly stable opportunities in the US or abroad.”
In response to these federal funding cuts, the UC system has taken steps to defend research. They’ve launched two campaigns — Stand up for UC and Speak up for Science.
The Stand up for UC campaign asks for individuals to sign a pledge to show their support and to share how the UC system has impacted their lives. In a YouTube video, UCLA alumnus and NBA Hall of Famer Kareem Abdul-Jabbar shows his support for UCLA and the UC system.
“Right here on campus, clinician researchers are breaking new ground in treating cancer and other diseases, work that’s literally saved my life through my health battles with leukemia, prostate cancer, atrial fibrillation and COPD,” Abdul-Jabbar said. “America needs UCLA and the entire UC system.”
The Speak Up for Science campaign was launched shortly after in response to the proposed cuts to federal science agencies. The website provides resources for supporters to email lawmakers to reject the funding cuts.
The proposed budget for the 2026 fiscal year includes a 56% funding cut to the National Science Foundation and a 43% cut to the National Institutes of Health.
Research and Public Service Professionals (RPSP) across the UC campuses have formed a union to gain a “stronger political voice” and defend themselves against the attacks, according to an email from the RPSP to New University. Their work includes running facilities, data analysis and the administering of grants.
The RPSP addressed their collaboration with the United Auto Workers (UAW) in the email, along with statements by Deborah Ferguson-Fitch, a research administrator at UCSF, and Leila Espinosa, a project management professional at UCLA.
“Forming a union has never been more important with higher education under increasing attack,” Ferguson-Fitch wrote. “We are joining a movement of research and professional employees in UAW who have been at the forefront of fighting funding cuts and protecting jobs and values in higher education.”
Milliken said it will take the collective effort of lawmakers and the UC system to ensure the university system can continue to serve students and the public.
“If the University loses the federal funding I mentioned earlier, we would need at least $4-5 billion per year to minimize the damage of that loss,” Milliken wrote. “That is what fighting for the people of California will take, and I look forward to further discussions regarding how the State can support UC as we strive to protect the greatest public university in the world.”
Alejandra Rodriguez Zepeda is a News Intern for the summer 2025 quarter. She can be reached at alejar16@uci.edu.
Edited by Jeralynn Querubin, Annabelle Aguirre