The recent attacks on higher education in the USA pose grave threats to academic freedom, faculty rights, and students’ access to affordable, high-quality education. SDFA is proud to stand up against these attacks, and our recent victories have renewed our hope. For example:
Fighting back against state budget cuts
In April 2025, we successfully lobbied UCSD’s state representatives to reduce UC’s budget cut from 8% to 0%.
Suing the Trump Administration to protect UC Research
Along with the AAUP, systemwide Faculty Associations, and UC unions, we filed suit against the Trump administration for cutting funding to UC research. We won, in a case the NY Times called “An extraordinary rebuke to the federal government’s campaign against elite schools.” We argued that the administration was using “financial coercion” to violate Constitutional first amendment rights. Members provided crucial testimonials of harm for the case.
Fighting–and winning–for a more transparent university
In September, we filed suit against UCOP to gain access to the Trump administration letter of demands sent to UCLA. The Trump Administration has fined UC $1 billion, and sent a 29-page agreement listing other required changes to UC policy. This proposed agreement sits at the center of the ongoing negotiations between the Trump Administration and UC related to the return of research funds. Based on previous reporting, the proposed settlement likely contains a host of policy changes that would affect students, faculty, and staff, and threaten research and teaching at the university system.
We won. On October 15, Judge Rebekah Evenson ordered UCOP to make the demands letter public by October 24, 2025. “This ruling reaffirms the value of public education and the right of all Californians to have a say in their public institutions,” said UCLA Faculty Association President Anna Markowitz. “The academic and clinical freedoms that have made the UC great should not be subject to federal overreach, nor should the policies and practices that have made the UC both an international leader and home for all California students.”
Protecting private information and academic freedom
We sent a letter to UCSD administration asking them about possible PII disclosures, and are working with the Academic Senate to prevent them from continuing to release PII to the federal government.
Expanding the Voice of UCSD Faculty
Our membership has grown by 30% since 2024, which means we can sustain and expand these important efforts!