The Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division filed a lawsuit against the University of California today, alleging deliberate indifference to race and national origin discrimination against Jewish and Israeli students at its Los Angeles (UCLA) campus. The lawsuit claims the university violated Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
According to the federal complaint filed in the Central District of California, antisemitic harassment and violence escalated on the UCLA campus following the October 7, 2023, Hamas attacks. The filing states that Jewish and Israeli students faced physical assaults, injuries, exclusion from campus spaces, and a loss of educational opportunities due to their perceived heritage.
The lawsuit also alleges that UCLA breached its funding contracts and grants with the United States. The government contends that the university certified its compliance with Title VI anti-discrimination duties while allowing discrimination against Jewish and Israeli students to continue on campus.
Federal investigators highlighted events from April 2024, when masked demonstrators established an encampment outside of Royce Hall. The complaint alleges that occupiers used physical force—including slapping, kicking, hitting with sticks, using pepper spray, and knocking individuals unconscious—against Jewish and Israeli students. The filing also notes that demonstrators formed “human phalanxes” to block these students from accessing academic buildings.
The legal action follows a Department of Justice investigation into campus incidents and subsequent written findings which concluded that UCLA failed to meet its legal obligations under Title VI.
“Earlier this year, we sued UCLA for subjecting its Jewish and Israeli employees to an antisemitic hostile work environment,” said 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.”
“Universities have an obligation to maintain safe and inclusive campuses for all students,” First Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli said. “Universities that violate our nation’s civil rights laws by repeatedly failing to shield Jewish students from antisemitism will be held accountable.”
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