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The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) has reached a settlement of $6 million in a lawsuit filed by Jewish students and faculty members regarding the school’s management of anti-Israel protests. This includes incidents where protesters were allowed to create a “Jew Exclusion Zone” on campus.
The lawsuit, initiated by the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, alleged that UCLA was complicit in fostering an antisemitic environment by segregating Jewish individuals and restricting their access to certain areas of the campus.
In response to inquiries from Fox News Digital, Mary Osako, UCLA’s vice chancellor for strategic communications, stated that the university has implemented measures to improve campus safety. This includes establishing a new Office of Campus and Community Safety, implementing new protest management policies, and taking decisive actions against behavior that violates existing policies.
Additional protests and arrests occurred at UCLA on May 6, 2024, with law enforcement detaining multiple individuals in a campus parking garage. (Brian van der Brug/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)
“Antisemitism has no place at UCLA, and we are unwavering in our commitment to eliminating it from our community,” Osako affirmed. “We have critically assessed our progress and are actively working to eradicate antisemitism from our environment entirely.
“These efforts are complemented by our ongoing initiatives to completely eradicate antisemitism through the Initiative to Combat Antisemitism,” she added. “The settlement reached today signifies a significant step forward as we continue to build on our previous endeavors and strive towards upholding our commitment to being a model university.”
The university has agreed to a consent judgment and will pay over $6.13 million to the plaintiffs, pending final approval from a federal judge. In August 2024, a federal judge ruled that UCLA must cease allowing anti-Israel demonstrators to exclude Jews from parts of the campus, acknowledging instances where students were physically obstructed from accessing certain areas.
UCLA student Eli Tsives captured on video being prevented from attending class by a group of anti-Israel protesters. UCLA has agreed to settle discrimination complaints filed by Jewish students and faculty for over $6 million. (Credit: Eli Tsives/Facebook)
TRUMP SECURES $221M COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY SETTLEMENT OVER ALLEGED CIVIL RIGHTS VIOLATIONS
Protesters gathered outside an anti-Israel encampment on the UCLA campus in Los Angeles on May 1, 2024. (Keith Birmingham/MediaNews Group/Pasadena Star-News via Getty Images)
“In the year 2024, in the United States of America, in the State of California, in the City of Los Angeles, Jewish students were excluded from portions of the UCLA campus because they refused to denounce their faith,” a federal court found at the time.
“This fact is so unimaginable and so abhorrent to our constitutional guarantee of religious freedom that it bears repeating, Jewish students were excluded from portions of the UCLA campus because they refused to denounce their faith.”
Yitzchok Frankel, a third-year law student at UCLA and father of four, who faced antisemitic harassment for wearing a kippah, was compelled to alter his usual routes on campus due to the presence of the Jew Exclusion Zone.
“When antisemites were terrorizing Jews and excluding them from campus, UCLA chose to protect the thugs and help keep Jews out,” Frankel expressed in a statement provided to Fox News Digital by the Becket Fund. “That was shameful, and it is regrettable that my own school defended those actions for over a year. However, the court’s decision today restores justice to our campus and ensures that Jews will once again be safe and treated equally.”
Mark Rienzi, president of Becket and legal counsel for the students involved in the lawsuit, highlighted the trend of campus administrators yielding to antisemitic behavior as similar incidents unfolded across various college campuses.
Graffiti at the Powell Library on the UCLA campus, where anti-Israel demonstrators set up an encampment on April 29, 2024, in Los Angeles. (Getty Images)
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“They are now on notice: Treating Jews as second-class citizens is not only wrong and illegal but also very costly,” he affirmed. “UCLA should be commended for acknowledging the repercussions of such behavior and setting a precedent that tolerating mistreatment of Jews violates constitutional principles and civil rights laws. This decision contributes to the enhanced safety of students nationwide.”
Reporting contributed by Brianna Herlihy of Fox News Digital.
