UCLA Tuesday reached a $6 million settlement after three Jewish students and a Jewish professor alleged the university committed discrimination and violated their civil rights by allowing a pro-Palestinian encampment to block their access to campus areas.
When campus protests erupted at universities across the country in spring 2024, UCLA was accused of allowing protesters to set up an encampment that physically prevented Jewish students and faculty members (especially when they are wearing clothes or accessories indicating their Jewish faith) from accessing the main library, classrooms and other campus locations.
UCLA also allegedly reinforced the pro-Palestinian zones, both by providing metal barriers and by sending away Jewish students and faculty, while taking no effective action to ensure safe passage for the students, the suit alleged.
In response to the complaint, UCLA initially disavowed any obligation to protect its Jewish students.
The $6.13 million settlement will be used to make donations to eight Jewish organizations while paying each plaintiff for damages and legal fees.
Also as part of the agreement, UCLA is prevented from organizing any efforts or campaigns that exclude Jewish students and school employees.
The university said it was pleased with the terms of the settlement, saying the agreement reflects “real progress” against antisemitism.
“Antisemitism, harassment, and other forms of intimidation are antithetical to our values and have no place at the University of California. We have been clear about where we have fallen short, and we are committed to doing better moving forward,” said University of California Board of Regents Chair Janet Reilly in a statement. “ Today’s settlement reflects a critically important goal that we share with the plaintiffs: to foster a safe, secure and inclusive environment for all members of our community and ensure that there is no room for antisemitism anywhere on campus.”
In the wake of the Hamas attacks on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, and the ensuing warfare, pro-Palestinian demonstrations emerged on college campuses nationwide.
According to the plaintiffs, the activists, many of them masked, used checkpoints, issued wrist bands, built barriers, and often locked arms to prevent Jewish students from passing through.
For a week, the lawsuit said, UCLA’s administration was aware of these practices and chose to let them persist. The suit contends that rather than clearing the encampment, UCLA instructed security staff to discourage unapproved students from attempting to cross through the areas blocked by the activists.
“When antisemites were terrorizing Jews and excluding them from campus, UCLA chose to protect the thugs and help keep Jews out,” said plaintiff Yitzchok Frankel, a recent UCLA Law graduate. “That was shameful, and it is sad that my own school defended those actions for more than a year. But today’s court judgment brings justice back to our campus and ensures Jews will be safe and be treated equally once again.”
The settlement comes nearly a year after U.S. District Judge Mark Scarsi ordered UCLA to stop assisting antisemitic agitators who set up a “Jew Exclusion Zone” on campus, blocking Jews from accessing classes, the library, and other critical areas of campus.
Mark Rienzi, an attorney for the students, said UCLA’s actions in catering to the agitators instead of ensuring safe passage for Jews on campus were documented in a report filed by UCLA’s own Task Force to Combat Antisemitism and Anti-Israeli Bias. The report admitted UCLA had fostered an antisemitic environment, and condemned the university’s own behavior as “de facto or structural antisemitism” and failing in its legal obligation to protect First Amendment rights to the free exercise of religion, the attorney said.
Police ultimately dismantled the UCLA encampment in an overnight operation that saw more than 200 people arrested.
Supporters of the demonstrators have accused officials of ignoring a violent attack on the encampment by counterprotesters on April 30, 2024, while being quick to arrest those sympathetic to the Palestinians.