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The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) has agreed to a $6.13 million settlement and comprehensive corrective measures following allegations that it allowed antisemitic discrimination and harassment to fester on campus during last year’s anti-Israel protests.
The settlement resolves Frankel v. Regents of the University of California, a civil rights lawsuit filed by Jewish students who were subjected to threats, intimidation, and exclusion during a weeks-long anti-Israel encampment in the heart of the UCLA campus last year. Protesters established what plaintiffs described as a “Jew Exclusion Zone,” physically blocking Jewish students and faculty from accessing classrooms, libraries, and other university facilities.
The U.S. Department of Justice found that UCLA violated both the Equal Protection Clause of the Constitution and Title VI of the Civil Rights Act by failing to protect Jewish students from targeted harassment. According to the DOJ, the university’s inaction enabled a hostile environment and undermined students’ civil rights.
As part of the resolution, UCLA will pay $6.13 million — $2.33 million of which is earmarked for Jewish communal organizations. The university must also implement structural reforms to ensure that all students, regardless of religion or identity, can access campus facilities without fear or obstruction.
Justice Department Finds the University of California-Los Angeles in Violation of Federal Civil Rights Law
Today, the U.S. Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division announced that the University of California, Los Angeles violated the Equal Protection Clause of the… pic.twitter.com/4QBUw5knUh
— DOJ Civil Rights Division (@CivilRights) July 29, 2025
“This settlement is the largest of its kind in a campus antisemitism case and should serve as a national wake-up call,” said Mark Rienzi, president of Becket, the legal advocacy group representing the plaintiffs. “When universities allow antisemitism to go unchecked, they violate the law and betray the very principles of equal access and safety.”
The agreement also establishes a permanent court order prohibiting UCLA from allowing similar exclusionary zones or discriminatory behavior on its campus in the future. It mandates increased oversight and policy changes aimed at upholding First and Fourteenth Amendment protections for all students.
The settlement comes amid a wave of federal scrutiny directed at universities nationwide following Hamas’s October 7th massacre and the eruption of hostile, often antisemitic, protests across U.S. campuses. Jewish students at multiple institutions have reported being assaulted, doxxed, and denied equal access to campus spaces — frequently with little to no response from administrators.
UCLA 🚨: The Pro Palestinian protestors have at least tripled in size since LAPD issued order to disperse. MASS police presence, this is aerial view of some of the groups size spread out across the campus. Tensions extremely high. pic.twitter.com/Ef0I5P2LGx
— Anthony (@AnthonyCabassa_) May 2, 2024
Just last week, Columbia University finalized a $200 million settlement with the U.S. government after losing access to federal funding over its mishandling of antisemitism on campus.
