Under Trump pressure, UC says student governments are banned from boycotting Israel

The University of California on Wednesday said student governments and all other "university entities" are banned from boycotting Israel, a direct response to a Trump administration directive that institutions engaging in such boycotts would not qualify for federal medical and science research grants.

In a letter to chancellors, UC President Michael Drake told campus leaders that "boycotts of companies based on their association with a particular country" were a violation of university policy. While UC does not have an anti-boycott rule on the books, Drake said that existing policies require competitive bidding for university contracts. Also, campus student governments must engage in "sound business practices" that abide by UC legal requirements, which he said make clear that boycotts of nations are not allowed.

The policies govern all campuses, medical centers, the Agriculture and Natural Resources division and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.

The anti-boycott letter does not apply to student clubs, which are given wider autonomy in their political positions and financial decisions because they do not represent campuses as a whole. They also have smaller budgets. But the letter could affect certain professional school governments, such as at law schools, which are formally recognized by chancellors as "authorized student governments."

Drake's notice builds upon the university's years-long opposition to the anti-Israel Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement. That movement has been accused of antisemitism for its aim to sever academic partnerships and financial investments tied to Israel and Israeli companies. It peaked last year among student governments and supporters of pro-Palestinian encampments that swept UC campuses.

The letter comes as UC is under a systemwide investigation by the Trump administration over allegations of antisemitic employment discrimination and faces campus-level probes of UCLA and UC Berkeley by a federal task force on antisemitism that has yanked billions in funding from elite universities, including Harvard and Columbia.

The UC anti-boycott message applies to protests targeting any nation but was released after the Department of Health and Human Services and National Science Foundation said in notices to all grantees that federal funds were at stake over the anti-Israel actions.

The Department of Health and Human Services oversees the National Institutes of Health, which is the largest source of federal funding for UC research and granted $2.6 billion to all campuses last academic year. The NSF was the second-largest source of federal funding at $524 million in 2024.

The figures have significantly declined since the Trump administration began slashing hundreds of millions of dollars in research support and funding that covers overheard payments for grants — cuts that are being challenged in multiple federal court cases.

The Department of Health and Human Services and NSF guidance on anti-Israel boycotts also said the government would not award grants to universities that promote "diversity, equity and inclusion." While UC has discontinued some practices, such as the requirements of faculty job applicants to submit diversity statements, the university system has largely kept its diversity-related practices in place. It has defended its outreach programs to recruit racially diverse undergraduates and faculty.

"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 wrote. "This letter reaffirms both: the rights of students, faculty, and staff to express their views, and the university's obligation to ensure that its units do not engage in financial boycotts of companies associated with a particular country."

The move could face resistance from undergraduate and graduate student government bodies, which have at times prided themselves on taking positions that contrast with university administration.

Aditi Hariharan, a UC Davis undergraduate and president of the UC Student Assn., who was briefed on the boycott ban in recent weeks by administrators, said she disagrees with it.

"Students already have little influence on how the university works and student government is one of the few places where they can really get involved and have their voices heard," said Hariharan in an interview before the letter was released. Her organization represents students across UC campuses. "But this damages the support students feel in being able to elect their own people and have a say in their schools."

While UC leaders have firmly opposed demands from campus activists to divest campus-level and systemwide endowments from ties to Israel or weapons companies connected to the war in Gaza, boycott movements have been successful among student governments. Many endorsed BDS last year and vowed to not fund or promote pro-Israel events and speakers or use products from corporations placed on a boycott list for operating in Israeli-occupied Palestinian territories.

UCLA's undergraduate and graduate student groups, for example, passed anti-Israel boycotts measures last year. The undergraduate government accused Israel of "apartheid, ethnic cleansing, and genocide" and "committed to encouraging financial allocations not be used" to support Israel.

Drake's statement against boycotts does not apply to campus groups, such as Students for Justice in Palestine and Jewish Voice for Peace, which support BDS. That's because those groups are considered by UC campuses as "registered campus organizations" that are given more leeway to take political action on issues relating to their memberships. They differ from "authorized official student governments" that represent wide swaths of the student body in campus and governance matters.

Many campus Students for Justice in Palestine groups have been suspended or banned, including two at UCLA that were expelled this year.

Drake's message could affect graduate school-level student governments where boycotts have caused a stir.

In March, UC Davis suspended its Law Student Assn. and took over its $40,000 budget after it passed a boycott resolution against Israel, including a ban on sponsoring pro-Israel speakers. The university said at the time that the group violated campus policy that required student governments to "provide financial and other tangible support for student activities and organizations on a viewpoint-neutral basis."

Drake's letter appears to make clear that the Davis boycott was also violation of UC-wide rules.

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