UC Caves to Trump Pressure and Bans Israel Boycotts

University of California student governments are banned from boycotting Israel, the university system told campus presidents on Wednesday in an apparent concession to the Trump administration’s effort to crack down on pro-Palestinian movements on university campuses.

UC President Michael Drake told chancellors in a letter that their campuses have an obligation to make financial decisions that are “grounded in sound business practices,” prohibiting them from boycotting companies based on associations with particular countries.

The letter applies to all countries, but comes after the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and National Science Foundation sent notices to federal grantees in May with updated guidelines prohibiting recipients of new grants from engaging in boycotts of Israel.

Since the war in Gaza began in October 2023, UC student governments, including at Berkeley and Davis campuses, have been among dozens of campus organizations at universities throughout the U.S. that have passed legislation boycotting Israeli companies and those that supply weapons or surveillance technology to the nation as part of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement.

The letter said existing UC policy prohibits these kinds of boycotts, since universities and their student governments are required to include competitive bidding in their financial and business decisions.

“The right of individuals and groups to express their views on public matters is distinct from the responsibility of University entities to conduct their financial affairs in a manner consistent with University policy and applicable law,” Drake’s letter reads. “This letter reaffirms both.”

Abigail Verino, the president of the Associated Students of the University of California at UC Berkeley, said in a statement that her office was committed to upholding the decisions made by the student body. In May 2024, the organization passed legislation divesting from companies it said contribute to genocide in Gaza with little opposition.

The university has been at the forefront of pro-Palestinian student-activist movements, earning it a spot on the list of schools the Trump administration is currently probing over claims of antisemitism, along with Stanford, Columbia, Harvard and others. UC Berkeley Chancellor Rich Lyons is among three university chancellors who have been called to speak at a congressional committee hearing on antisemitism this month.

“We take seriously our responsibility to reflect student voices, especially when they concern matters of conscience and global justice,” Verino wrote in her email to KQED. “We’re navigating this moment thoughtfully and deliberately.”

Earlier this year, UC Davis suspended its law school’s student association after it passed legislation banning the use of student funds for businesses that are part of the BDS movement’s list of companies that fund Israel and vowing not to approve funding requests for events featuring speakers they say represent the Israeli government.

In March, the university took control of the law student association’s $40,000 annual budget over the new regulations.

Dov Baum, the director of corporate accountability for American Friends Service Committee, an organization supporting the university BDS movement, said the recent change to the grant eligibility policy represents a larger aim of the Trump administration to stifle free speech.

“I think we all see how the Trump administration is trying to crack down on universities, just like other authoritarian regimes are trying to crack down on locations where independent free thoughts can happen, and universities are one such place,” she said.

Baum said that the administration’s focus on activism that opposes Israel is especially effective, since BDS has been divisive, even among progressives.

“Historically in this country, there was a big movement of what we call PEPs — ‘progressives except Palestine.’ People who believe in human rights and equality and liberation, but somehow leave behind the Palestinians,” she said.

The new grant conditions from the National Science Foundation also warned that grants would not be provided to entities that operate any programs that promote diversity, equity and inclusion, but the letter from Drake does not discuss DEI efforts.

The university system had pulled back some diversity initiatives, including a requirement that applicants for faculty positions submit diversity statements, which the UC’s Board of Regents discontinued in March, but its diversity statement and information, as well as the UC Office of the President’s Equity, Diversity and Inclusion department are still in place.

Baum said she understood that there was significant political pressure on universities to comply with the Trump administration, especially given their reliance on financial funding for research efforts. The UC received more than $4 billion — more than half of its total research budget — in research funding from federal agencies in 2024, according to university data.

“They are willing to compromise, especially when it comes to issues around Palestine. This is where, usually, progressives compromise, unfortunately,” she told KQED.