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Julio Frenk does not appear to be a university administrator content to watch his school’s athletic program from the sidelines.
In his last stop before becoming UCLA’s chancellor, Frenk led an overhaul of the University of Miami’s athletic department, bringing in a new athletic director and football coach after the Hurricanes were criticized for not making football a priority under Frenk’s leadership.
That shakeup resulted in coach Mario Cristobal leading his team to a 10-3 season in 2024 that represented the Hurricanes’ best finish in nearly a decade.
Can UCLA fans expect a similar level of involvement in athletics from their new chancellor?
In a word, yes.
UCLA Chancellor Julio Frenk, who was inaugurated Thursday, spoke to The Times about the state of higher education and his vision for the university amid Trump administration cuts, investigations and attacks on diversity initiatives.
During a recent interview with The Times, Frenk indicated that he would be hands-on with UCLA athletics because of its importance to the university as a whole.
“I am [going to be involved] because I think athletics plays a very central role,” Frenk said. “It is, first, an avenue for recruiting very talented students. Secondly, it benefits the other students. It enriches the student experience of everyone. But let me tell you, when we talk about the contribution to society, part of the reason many universities have a deficit, it’s not because of football. Football actually has a positive cash flow for the university.
“What we do in the United States that no other country that I know of does, is that universities are the place where we train Olympians, Olympic competitors, competitors who go to the Olympic Games. That function — just like the research function — has been delegated to universities and we are investing in having Olympic athletes. In most of the other countries, it’s government-run high-performance centers.
“But here the federal government doesn’t have to worry about that because universities do that and they fund that. And when we have the Olympics every four years, everyone is very proud to see the United States top the medal chart. That work starts in universities and that’s why we also fund that. It’s an intrinsic part of education. It enriches everyone’s experience. It builds community. It also produces the best performing Olympic teams in the world.”
Frenk’s comments would seem to suggest that he is not considering any cuts to UCLA’s Olympic sports even at a time when the school’s athletic department has run up a $219.5-million deficit over the last six fiscal years. That deficit would be even higher had the university not agreed to provide $30 million to its athletic department as part of its most recent fiscal budget.
Frenk also said that federal legislation was needed “to create a much more predictable model” for football and men’s basketball, controlling expenses while propping up the rest of an athletic department.
“I acknowledge this costs money,” Frenk said of allocating resources to the revenue sports, “but the money goes to be able to have all the other disciplines that do not generate money. The most direct way to do that would be to find other sources of funding. Right now, we use the revenue from football and that requires investments to fund the entire athletic operation.
“It is time to have a conversation and create a legal framework that doesn’t leave it to each institution or each state to find their own way in this. We’re part of an ecosystem. I think the move to the Big Ten has been very positive in that respect. And those are the conversations we are having. How do we generate other sources of revenue — mostly to be able not just to maintain the excellence of the sports that are widely followed by the public, but also all the other sports, including, very importantly, the Olympic sports, which are such a source of pride?”
Frenk has shown he will not tolerate failure in high-profile sports — or the perception that he is not doing everything he can to help his teams.
As Miami’s president, he led an upheaval of the school’s athletic department after ESPN analyst Kirk Herbstreit criticized the Hurricanes during a September 2021 broadcast, mentioning a Miami Herald article stating that football was not a priority for Frenk. Herbstreit went on to say that Miami’s athletic director, football coach and president were not in alignment about team needs like other powerhouse programs.
Five days later, Frenk issued a statement saying that he wanted “to make clear that the board of trustees and I, as president, recognize the essential part of our brand and reputation derived from athletics and we are fully committed to building championship-caliber teams at the U.” Frenk added that he would have his chief of staff and senior advisor engage with the athletic department to enhance his own commitment to sustain winning teams.
With the football team headed for a 7-5 finish that fell far short of preseason expectations, athletic director James Blake was fired before the end of the season and football coach Manny Diaz was dismissed a little more than a week after the final game. The Hurricanes then gave Cristobal a 10-year, $80-million contract, with Frenk attending the introductory news conference and calling his new coach’s selection “a bold vision for the future.”
Last month, while making his first public remarks about UCLA athletics at a UC regents meeting, Frenk referenced the role athletics played in the school’s institutional identity, mentioning legendary basketball coach John Wooden and the Bruins’ dominance in Olympic sports with the school set to host the athlete village for the 2028 Olympics.
Frenk also mentioned how UCLA’s recent move to the Big Ten Conference was made with “the goal of stabilizing the program and positioning it for long-term success.” The chancellor referenced the school’s national championship in men’s water polo, a Final Four appearance in women’s basketball and a national runner-up finish in women’s gymnastics as part of a haul that also included six team and four individual conference titles, the most of any Big Ten team.
Ultimately, an athletic department is only as healthy as its highest-profile sports. UCLA’s football team needs to fully capitalize on the recent buzz created by the arrival of transfer quarterback Nico Iamaleava after finishing 5-7 in coach DeShaun Foster‘s debut season. The men’s basketball team must maximize the ability of transfer point guard Donovan Dent to make everyone around him better if it hopes to make it to the second weekend of the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2023.
Going forward, every UCLA team seems assured of one thing: Their new chancellor will be watching.
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