The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) sued the University of California May 26, alleging that the school’s Los Angeles campus (UCLA) violated the Civil Rights Act of 1964 by permitting violent anti-semitic behavior and failing to take steps to protect Jewish and Israeli students during protests in 2023 and 2024.
The DOJ said in a press release that the university practiced “deliberate indifference” to anti-semitic acts at UCLA, including students being “physically assaulted, injured, excluded from campus, and deprived of educational opportunities because of their perceived Jewish or Israeli heritage.”
UCLA also reportedly tolerated violent incidents that occurred when protestors erected a pro-Palestine encampment in front of an academic building. According to the release, the protestors, wearing masks, “slapped, kicked, beat with sticks, doused with pepper spray, and knocked unconscious Jewish and Israeli students” and formed “human phalanxes” to keep Jewish and Israeli students out of academic buildings.
The DOJ alleges UCLA violated conditions tied to its federal funding contracts and grants by certifying compliance with Title VI civil rights protections while failing to protect Jewish and Israeli students from discrimination.
First Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli for the Central District of California stated in the release that universities are required to “maintain safe and inclusive campuses for all students.”
He added, “Universities that violate our nation’s civil rights laws by repeatedly failing to shield Jewish students from antisemitism will be held accountable.”
According to the release, the lawsuit comes after a DOJ investigation into complaints of antisemitism at UCLA, and follows another DOJ lawsuit filed earlier this year over reports of an antisemitic hostile work environment at the university.
The Los Angeles Times reported that UCLA Chancellor Julio Frenk has emphatically rejected the allegations. He said that the school has taken several steps to combat antisemitism in the past year, pointing to the recruitment of a campus and community safety vice chancellor, reorganization of the school’s civil rights office, appointment of a Title VI officer, and strengthening of policies to protect free expression and safety.
UC President James B. Milliken also denied the allegations, saying that it “does nothing to aid our ongoing efforts to address antisemitism and create safe and welcoming campus environments for all members of our community.”