Faculty filed for emergency relief under state public records law to seek settlement demand release
OAKLAND – The Trump Administration wants to strong-arm the University of California behind closed doors to pay $1 billion and change policies that would rend the fabric of the world’s top public university system.
Today, Judge Rebekah Evenson affirmed that when it comes to California’s state institutions, the public has a right to know.
The UCLA Faculty Association and the Council of University of California Faculty Associations (CUCFA) sued the Regents of the University of California under the California Public Records Act for refusing to disclose the proposed settlement agreement issued by the U.S. Department of Justice. Judge Evenson today issued a writ of mandate to the Regents ordering them to disclose the proposed agreement, which includes the demands from the Trump Administration, to the faculty associations.
Californians will find out by October 24, 2025, what policy changes the Trump Administration is demanding of the UC, and will have a chance to weigh in with their state representatives before any deal is done.
Over twenty unions representing the lab workers, janitors, skilled craftworkers, clerical and allied service workers, lab technicians, nurses, students, and teachers of the UC system will be able to weigh in the risks to their jobs, livelihoods, and healthcare.
Future students and UC parents will be able to demand the UC maintain its equitable admissions policies, which have served as an engine of social transformation for decades. They can act to protect their right to education.
The patients of UC healthcare systems – millions of Californians across the state – will be able to take action to ensure their doctors are allowed to provide the best evidence-based healthcare, including for trans kids.
“We filed this lawsuit on behalf of all Californians who have a stake in our state’s flagship higher education institutions,” said Council of UC Faculty Associations President Annie McClanahan. “The future of the University of California is at stake, and we all deserve to be part of the campaign to save it from unconstitutional attacks by the Trump Administration.”
“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.”
The emergency petition to make public the proposed settlement agreement was filed the same week as a federal lawsuit against the Trump Administration challenging the legality and constitutionality of the Trump demands. The lawsuit asks the court to put a stop to the federal financial threats against the UC.
“Shared governance is a bedrock principle in higher education,” said Veena Dubal, General Counsel of the American Association of University Professors, which is the lead plaintiff in a separate lawsuit against the Trump Administration over the proposed settlement. “Faculty, students, and staff in the UC system must have a say in decisions about their classes, their families, and their futures. Today’s ruling makes that possible.”