UPDATE: UCLA DEI Director Suspended After Kirk Comments, Says Leave Is Part of ‘Project 2025’

The director of race and equity at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA)  has responded to his suspension by alleging that the university’s actions are part of a wider political agenda. 

In a LinkedIn post published Sept. 23, Jonathan Perkins wrote, “Black and brown professors and higher ed administrators like me are being put on leave, even terminated … largely due to extortion threats like the one UCLA is currently negotiating with the Christian White Nationalist Trump administration.” 

[RELATED: UCLA suspends official who cheered Charlie Kirk’s death, after scrubbing DEI website]

Perkins added, “Everything we are witnessing right now is part of Project 2025’s implementation. It’s all really happening.”

Perkins’ statement came days after UCLA confirmed to the Los Angeles Times that he had been placed on “immediate leave” following his remarks about the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk. 

The university said it had “launched an investigation,” emphasizing that while free expression is valued, “violence of any kind — including the celebration of it — is completely unacceptable and will not be tolerated.” 

This is not the first time Perkins has faced scrutiny. In 2022, he tweeted: “No one wants to openly admit [we all] hope Clarence Thomas dies,” while also referring to the justice as an “Uncle Thomas.” He similarly wrote “Good riddance, colonizer” after the death of Queen Elizabeth II. Those accounts have since been deleted.

[RELATED: Four California universities will host LGBTQ programming this fall]

According to his LinkedIn page, Perkins’ UCLA duties included “implementing equitable and evidence-based best practices” and helping to “prioritize long-term, antiracist improvement.” 

Campus Reform has contacted UCLA and Jonathan Perkins for comment. This article will be updated accordingly.