A “homeless” UCLA lecturer who railed against the university saying his $70,000 paycheck was too low to live in Los Angeles, claims he was placed on leave because of his remarks towards the school and his department head.
Dr. Daniel McKeown, an astrophysics lecturer in the College of Physical Science, broke the “terrible news” to his 48,700 followers that his courses were taken away in “retaliation” to a video of his that went viral earlier this month.
“UCLA has placed me on administrative leave, they’ve taken all of my courses that I am teaching this fall away from me without my permission,” McKeown said in a TikTok posted on Oct. 19.
“Chair Stuart Brown has retaliated against me for making my story public about how I wasn’t paid enough to afford to work at UCLA,” McKeown said.
In a video posted to YouTube, McKeown called it a temporary leave and alluded to the ultimatums he was given for him to return to his position.
“It’s because (Brown) has not approved an accommodation that I received from my doctor saying that I should be allowed to teach online indefinitely,” the lecturer said. “His offer was that I have to immediately teach in person starting (Oct. 21) of which I am unable to because I was made homeless as a result of low pay.”
McKeown, who started working at the California university in Sept. 2023, first went public with his financial and housing problems in September.
“I was paid so poorly last year and currently that I was forced to move all my belongings into a public storage unit and I can no longer live in my one-bedroom apartment in Westwood,” McKeown said in the TikTok viewed over 1.6 million times.
McKeown revealed he earned $66,000 last year and was making $70,000 this year, but said he couldn’t afford the $2,500 per month cost to live in Los Angeles, forcing him to move his belongings into storage.
He said he had attempted to renegotiate his contract with the Physics and Astronomy department seeking $200,000 so he could afford his apartment.
“The chair of my department, Stuart Brown, doesn’t care about how poorly I’m being paid and the fact that he’s cheapened the value of physics for the entire generation.”
McKeown alleged Brown’s greed had reduced the chances of current physics graduate students from earning a fair living.
The lecturer also claimed that undergraduate students dreaming of becoming physicists, would give up and instead choose another career path.
“I couldn’t even blame you, because who would want to go and get 10 plus years of advanced education, only to be spit on his own society and his own university system of which he’s a graduate,” he said.
“UCLA, they don’t value my own knowledge that I’m giving to students despite extremely high reviews and great accolades for my work.”
“My university doesn’t value what I do, and the leadership values money and profits over anything else.
McKeown says he is “technically homeless” by not having a place of his own or any lease.
He had moved into a friend’s place in San Diego, where he began teaching remotely, an action that Brown didn’t agree with.
“Instead of trying to work with me to negotiate a good strategy so that I could afford to move back to Los Angeles and having some compassion for my struggles and the homelessness that’s been the cause of my problem he’s placed me on leave and he’s retaliated against me.
During his time away from campus, McKeown posted his recorded Zoom lectures to his YouTube account.
The Post has reached out to UCLA.