This post was updated Oct. 23 at 5:16 p.m.

A state appellate court judge ruled Wednesday that the UC Board of Regents must release the Trump administration’s proposed settlement demands to UCLA by Oct. 24, upholding a previous ruling by a lower court. 

The UCLA Faculty Association and the Council of University of California Faculty Associations filed a lawsuit Sept. 17 to access the Trump administration’s settlement, which it proposed to UCLA on Aug. 8 in exchange for the university’s suspended research funding. The groups filed under the California Public Records Act, which requires that government documents must be disclosed if requested – with exceptions for specific privacy and safety concerns.

[Related: Judge rules UC must publicize Trump administration settlement demands]

The UC appealed the Wednesday decision to the California Supreme Court on Thursday, said Anna Markowitz, the president of the UCLA Faculty Association, in an emailed statement.

The federal government suspended $584 million of UCLA’s federal research grants in late July, alleging that the university allowed antisemitism, affirmative action and “men to participate in women’s sports.” 

A federal judge temporarily reinstated UCLA’s suspended National Science Foundation and National Institutes of Health grants Aug. 12 and Sept. 22, respectively, in a case brought by UC researchers. The decision will hold while the case moves through the courts.

UCLA was the first public university to experience large-scale federal funding cuts since President Donald Trump began freezing funds to universities in March.

The settlement, first obtained by CNN on Aug. 6, demanded UCLA pay $1 billion in multiple installments and $172 million in claims funds for people affected by alleged violations of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, which forbids employment discrimination on the basis of color, national origin, race, religion and sex. The demand was the largest made of any university by the administration thus far.

Carin T. Fujisaki, an acting presiding justice for the First Appellate District, signed a one sentence decision, upholding an Oct. 14 ruling that the UC appealed. The Daily Bruin sent a public records request for the settlement Oct. 14, which has not been fulfilled. 

Rachel Zaentz, a spokesperson for the UC Office of the President, said in an emailed statement that the University is “currently reviewing and evaluating” the ruling.

“We are committed to being transparent about the challenges facing the University, but we must also evaluate our response to the administration’s settlement proposal that, like all settlement communications, is confidential,” Zaentz said. “UC remains committed to protecting the mission, governance, and academic freedom of the University.”

Markowitz said she was pleased with the court’s Wednesday decision and disappointed by the UC’s choice to appeal. She added that she acknowledges the pressure the University is under from the federal government but urged them to “stand up and fight.”

If the UCLA Faculty Association receives the proposal, it intends to make it public so that others can understand what is “at stake” for the UC, its faculty and students, Markowitz added. 

“Many faculty are excited to see the letter and to understand what’s really at stake at our institution,” she said. “We also were really excited to share it with the rest of California.” 

According to the Oct. 14 order – issued by Rebekah Evenson, a judge in the Superior Court of Alameda County – the University opposed releasing the draft proposal due to an exemption in CPRA for pending litigation. However, the court ruled the UC did not have the authority for the exemption. 

Under the settlement, UCLA would have to provide the federal government with access to “all UCLA staff, employees, facilities, documents, and data related to the agreement” that are not protected by attorney-client privilege or work product, according to the Los Angeles Times. 

UC Berkeley released the information of about 160 students, staff and faculty to the federal government in August in compliance with an investigation brought by the Department of Education, Office of Civil Rights, according to the Daily Californian. UC San Diego sent an unspecified amount of UCSD community members’ information to the federal government, according to the UCSD Guardian.

The settlement would also require the university to end gender-affirming care for minors at its medical facilities, ban overnight protests, discontinue race- and-ethnicity-based scholarships and hire new administrators to oversee the school and ensure compliance with antidiscrimination laws, according to CNN. One of these new administrators would also receive admissions data, according to CNN.  

Labor unions and faculty associations across the UC filed a separate lawsuit Sept. 16, alleging the federal government’s suspension of grants and settlement demands violated employees’ free speech and due process rights, and amounted to financial coercion. 

[Related: Labor unions, faculty associations sue Trump administration over demands to UCLA]

The Oct. 14 order acknowledged the “heightened sensitivity” and “public concern” about the settlement – but added that current political tensions played no role in the court’s ruling.

“We filed this lawsuit on behalf of all Californians who have a stake in our state’s flagship higher education institutions,” Annie McClanahan, the President of the Council of UC Faculty Associations, said in a press release following the initial ruling. “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.”