The Trump administration has filed a civil rights lawsuit against the University of California, alleging the public school system violated federal law by discriminating against Jewish students and staff, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) announced Tuesday.
The lawsuit centers around the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) as the DOJ’s Civil Right Division has previously accused the LA campus of allowing harassment and abuse toward Jewish people since Oct. 7, 2023, the day of the Hamas-led terrorist attack on Israel.
The Westwood-based university showed a pattern or practice of discrimination, according to the Justice Department, by failing to “prevent and correct discriminatory and harassing conduct.
The DOJ complaint also references some of the accusations previously made by three Jewish students and a professor who had sued UCLA over the school’s handling of a pro-Palestinian encampment.
Similar to the previous lawsuit, the Justice Department alleges UCLA allowed antisemitic harassment to continue against Jewish students and professors as some of them said they were assaulted by protesters. The four people ended up reaching a $6 million settlement with the university.
“UCLA failed to live up to its systemwide commitment to diversity and equal opportunity when it stood by as Jewish employees were subjected to harassment,” said First Assistant United States Attorney Bill Essayli of the Central District of California.
The latest lawsuit is an extension of the legal battle between the Trump administration and UCLA. After the federal government suspended $584 million in federal grants for UCLA last August, the Trump administration proposed a $1 billion settlement with the university.
The federal funding for UCLA was later restored after a federal judge intervened.
In response, UCLA Chancellor Julio Frenk said the school has implemented systematic changes to “combat antisemitism.”
Full statement from Chancellor Frenk below:
As Chancellor Frenk has made clear: Antisemitism is abhorrent and has no place at UCLA or anywhere.
Under his leadership, UCLA has taken concrete and significant steps to strengthen campus safety, enforce policies, and combat antisemitism in a systemic and sustained manner. We recruited an Associate Vice Chancellor for Campus and Community Safety and made substantial investments to enhance coordination, preparedness, and response. We established the Initiative to Combat Antisemitism with a clear mandate to implement meaningful institutional change. We reorganized our Office of Civil Rights and hired a dedicated Title VI/Title VII officer to ensure professionalized oversight and accountability. We adopted strengthened Time, Place, and Manner policies to protect both free expression and campus operations. And, pursuant to the Frankel settlement, we are providing support to community organizations engaged in combating antisemitism.
These ongoing and long-standing institutional efforts, including clear expectations and a commitment to enforcement, are working. We stand firmly by the decisive actions we have taken to combat antisemitism in all its forms, and we will vigorously defend our efforts and our unwavering commitment to providing a safe, inclusive environment for all members of our community.”
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