UCLA was ‘deliberately indifferent’ to antisemitism on campus, federal investigation finds

“There is still much more work left to be done to build a safer, more welcoming and more supportive campus that is free from antisemitic harassment and intimidation, and we look forward to working closely with the university and the UC system to counter antisemitism and bias at every turn,” Gold told JNS.

The settlement comes after a federal investigation into the issue, carried out by the US Justice Department (DOJ), found that the college was “deliberately indifferent” to antisemitism on its campus.

Attorney General Pam Bondi said: “Our investigation into the University of California system has found concerning evidence of systemic antisemitism at UCLA that demands severe accountability from the institution.

“This disgusting breach of civil rights against students will not stand.

"DOJ will force UCLA to pay a heavy price for putting Jewish Americans at risk and continue our ongoing investigations into other campuses in the UC system.”

The institution now has until September to enter into a voluntary agreement with the Trump administration to reform its practices. If it does not do so, the DOJ has said it will “file a complaint in federal district court” regarding the matter.

Dr. Kira Stein, chair and founder of the Jewish Faculty Resilience Group at UCLA, which consists of professors, postdoctoral researchers and staff who support the school’s Jewish community, told JNS that the group “has been advocating for a long time for UCLA to settle the lawsuits regarding antisemitism at its campus.”

“We welcome this signaling that things are going to change on campus,” said Stein, an assistant clinical psychiatry professor at UCLA’s David Geffen School of Medicine. “Jews, like everyone else, deserve equal protection under the law, and that includes equal protection to learn, live and work at our university campuses.”

The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, which represented the Jewish students in the lawsuit, stated that “UCLA also agreed to final judgment and a permanent court order preventing it from facilitating efforts to exclude Jewish students and faculty from campus.”

“The agreed judgment appropriately recognizes that it is discriminatory and antisemitic to prevent Jews from accessing public spaces because of their religious beliefs about Israel,” Becket stated.

The lawsuit, filed last year, alleged that the school allowed anti-Israel protesters to bar Jewish students from entering the campus.

“The settlement is believed to be the largest private settlement in campus antisemitism cases,” Becket stated.

The parties in the lawsuit stated jointly that they “are pleased with the terms of today’s settlement” and that the “injunction and other terms UCLA has agreed to demonstrate real progress in the fight against antisemitism.”

Yitzchok Frankel, one of the plaintiffs, stated that “when antisemites were terrorising Jews and excluding them from campus, UCLA chose to protect the thugs and help keep Jews out. That was shameful, and it is sad that my own school defended those actions for more than a year.”

“Today’s court judgment brings justice back to our campus and ensures Jews will be safe and be treated equally once again,” he said.

Mark Rienzi, president of Becket, stated that “campus administrators across the country willingly bent the knee to antisemites during the encampments.”

“They are now on notice,” he said. “Treating Jews like second-class citizens is wrong, illegal and very costly.”

The president and the board chair of the Los Angeles Federation stated that “accountability is a vital first step to ensuring that the mistakes made by the university, leaving Jewish students vulnerable and endangered, should not happen again.”

“This settlement clearly affirms: Antisemitism has no place at UCLA or on any campus,” the two leaders said. “We hope that moving forward, Jewish students can make their voices heard, feel protected on campus, and hold our educational institutions accountable.”