Over 350 Jewish faculty and community members at UCLA have come together to oppose the Trump administration’s demand that the university pay a $1 billion fine over allegations of campus antisemitism. The “Jews in Defense of UC” letter also decries the government’s freezing of $584 million in research grant funding.

Zev Yaroslavsky, former L.A. County supervisor and director of the Los Angeles Initiative at UCLA Luskin, was an early signatory of the letter. In the article, he said, “the federal actions are not going to address the issue of antisemitism on campus,” but that they will “blow a hole through” the school’s finances.

“It’s the existence of the institution — that’s what’s at stake here,” said Yaroslavsky.

“Cutting off hundreds of millions of research funds will do nothing to make UCLA safer for Jews nor diminish antisemitism in the world,” the letter said. “It will not benefit Jewish Bruins nor Jews beyond campus who make extensive use of its first-rate medical facilities, ground-breaking scientific innovations, and cutting-edge cultural institutions.”

Zev Yaroslavsky is a former faculty member at UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs and currently serves as director of the Los Angeles Initiative. A longtime former member of the L.A. County Board of Supervisors, he continues to contribute to the school’s research and public engagement through his work with the Quality of Life Index, which is highlighted each year at the annual Luskin Summit.