New Grant Reinvests Funds from ‘Frankel Settlement’ Back to the UCLA Campus to Combat Antisemitism and Support the Jewish Community
The Academic Engagement Network (AEN) today announced it has made a significant investment in the Jewish Faculty Resilience Group (JFRG) at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). AEN’s $25,000 grant to JFRG will go toward increasing its staff capacity with new hires, creating educational programming for the 2025-2026 academic year, and engaging others committed to combating campus antisemitism in the UC system.
In August 2025, AEN was among eight nonprofit organizations that received a portion of a $2.33 million contribution from the University of California, part of a settlement with UCLA over allegations of antisemitism on its campus that occurred in the spring of 2024. AEN is committed to reinvesting the funds it has received from the settlement back into projects and activities aimed at improving the campus climate and supporting the Jewish and Zionist community at UCLA. Further AEN grants to UCLA for these purposes will be made in the coming year.
JFRG is one of the more than 40 faculty groups AEN is supporting through its Faculty Against Antisemitism Movement (FAAM) initiative. AEN has provided JFRG with smaller grants in the past through its microgrants program, which have been used to support the group’s educational programming on campus. JFRG is a non-partisan coalition of Jewish and allied faculty, researchers, and staff, founded and spearheaded by AEN faculty members, committed to combating antisemitism, defending academic freedom, and building Jewish resilience in higher education.
“At AEN, we continue to prioritize empowering faculty leaders who are working tirelessly to combat antisemitism and strengthen open, inclusive discourse on campuses across the country,” said Miriam Elman, Executive Director of AEN. “Faculty groups like UCLA’s Jewish Faculty Resilience Group exemplify how scholars can lead the way in building academic environments where Jewish and Zionist identities are respected and all voices are welcome. We’re proud to reinvest these ‘Frankel Settlement’ funds back into such an important initiative at UCLA, and we look forward to seeing the lasting impact of the faculty’s work across the UC system and beyond.”
“The Jewish Faculty Resilience Group at UCLA is deeply grateful to the Academic Engagement Network for this generous $25,000 grant,” said Dr. Kira Stein, Founder and Chair of the Jewish Faculty Resilience Group at UCLA. “What makes this gift especially meaningful is that AEN reached out to recognize our work at UCLA and our need for greater community support. That gesture of partnership is both touching and significant, reflecting AEN’s integrity, empathy, and commitment to strengthening Jewish faculty and Jewish life on campus. We are honored to stand alongside AEN in shared purpose in the fight for academic integrity and balance in higher education.”
In addition to UCLA’s JFRG, AEN members across the country have launched numerous groups to publicly speak out against antisemitism and anti-Israel bias, to mentor students, advise university administrators, and host educational programming. Examples include: UIUC’s Faculty for Academic Freedom and Against Antisemitism; Columbia’s Jewish Faculty and Staff Supporting Israel; George Washington University Faculty and Staff Against Antisemitism and Hate; California State University at Northridge’s Matadors Against Antisemitism; and Indiana University’s Faculty and Staff for Israel.
AEN engages, educates, and empowers faculty on nearly 350 campuses nationwide who combat antisemitism, promote academic freedom, and advance education about Israel. Its Faculty Against Antisemitism Movement (FAAM), launched after October 7th, has galvanized AEN faculty members, as well as other academics who choose to get involved, to stand against antisemitism, the denigration of Jewish identity, and anti-Israel bias on their campuses and to collectively urge university leaders to take appropriate action. More than 25,000 professors across the country have become active in FAAM over the last year.
AEN faculty members at UPenn, UCLA, Yale, Harvard, Stanford, Dartmouth, UC Berkeley, the University of Cincinnati, and MIT have also organized faculty solidarity and educational missions to Israel. By networking faculty and sharing materials and best practices, AEN hopes to empower many more of these faculty groups and missions to sprout up across the country.
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AEN is a national organization that mobilizes networks of university faculty and administrators to counter antisemitism, oppose the denigration of Jewish and Zionist identities, promote academic freedom, and advance education about Israel. More at https://academicengagement.org/ and
https://www.facultyagainstantisemitism.org/.
