California’s Democrat Governor Gavin Newsom accused major universities of “selling their souls” to President Donald Trump’s administration.
Newsom made the remarks after several top schools agreed to multimillion-dollar settlements tied to federal investigations.
The Trump administration has cut or frozen federal research grants at universities, including Columbia, Brown, Harvard, and Penn.
The White House cited the colleges’ failures to address anti-Semitism and their promotion of radical left-wing policies.
Some schools have agreed to large settlements in order to restore funding and close further probes.
Newsom, however, insisted that the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) will not bend.
During an appearance on the “Pod Save America” podcast, Newsom said:
“UCLA is not going to sell their soul like Harvard or Brown or Penn or Columbia.
“Shame on all of them. We’re not.
“And we’re going to fight like hell to protect our democracy, our liberties, our freedoms.
“I love Republicans. I love Democrats.
“I don’t care what your party affiliation is.
“I honestly don’t,” the governor claimed.
“I care about this country and our democracy.
“I care about the rule of law.”
Newsom singled out Harvard, where reports suggest the university is close to reaching a $500 million settlement to regain access to more than $2.6 billion in federal funding.
“And let me make this crystal clear to everyone watching and make it crystal clear to the folks at Harvard,” Newsom said.
“We will never ever sell our soul to Donald Trump.
“Harvard, I pray you are listening. How could you?
“Of all institutions, on tens of billions of dollars, what’s the point of your damn endowment if you cannot stand on principle?”
The governor doubled down earlier this month during remarks in San Francisco.
Newsom made clear that UCLA will not pay a settlement while he’s in charge.
“We’re not Brown, we’re not Columbia, and I’m not going to be governor if we act like that,” he declared.
“Period. Full stop, I will fight like hell to make sure that doesn’t happen.”
The Trump administration has sought a $1 billion settlement from UCLA.
In addition, the school has been urged to create a $172 million claims fund for alleged Title VII violations under the Civil Rights Act.
UCLA has already agreed to pay $6 million to settle a lawsuit brought by Jewish students and faculty over the school’s handling of anti-Israel protests.
Plaintiffs accused administrators of allowing activists to set up a “Jew Exclusion Zone” on campus.
The university has also been slammed for failing to protect Jewish students.
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