Justice Department Sues University of California for Antisemitic Environment

The Department of Justice filed a lawsuit against the University of California for what it says is discrimination against Jewish and Israeli students at its University of California Los Angeles campus.

The suit says the environment on the UCLA campus is in violation of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

“Earlier this year, we sued UCLA for subjecting its Jewish and Israeli employees to an antisemitic hostile work environment,” stated Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “Now, the Department of Justice calls UCLA to account for its toleration of the equally appalling hostile educational environment against its Jewish and Israeli students.”

After the attacks on October 7, 2023, in Israel by Hamas, antisemitic hatred against UCLA’s Jewish and Israeli students escalated. Students were physically assaulted, injured, excluded from campus and deprived of educational opportunities because of their perceived Jewish or Israeli heritage, according to the lawsuit.

According to the complaint, UCLA violated Title VI through its indifference to pervasive on-campus antisemitism. UCLA also breached its funding contracts and grants with the U.S. by certifying the school’s compliance with its Title VI duties to protect all students from unlawful discrimination while allowing discrimination against Jewish and Israeli students to infect its campus.

The suit calls out an incident on April 2024 when masked demonstrators erected an encampment outside of Royce Hall and allegedly slapped, kicked, beat with sticks, doused with pepper spray, and knocked unconscious Jewish and Israeli students. Demonstrators also blocked Jewish and Israeli students from entering academic buildings, according to the lawsuit.

This lawsuit was filed in the Central District of California.