UCLA will pay over $6 million in a landmark legal settlement stemming from accusations that the university allowed blatant antisemitic discrimination on campus — including a now-infamous “Jew Exclusion Zone.”
The university has agreed to pay $6.13 million to plaintiffs and enter a consent judgment that will be legally binding for 15 years if approved by a federal judge. The settlement is considered the largest private resolution of its kind involving antisemitic discrimination at a public university.
The lawsuit arose after a series of incidents in which Jewish students were harassed and blocked from campus grounds during anti-Israel protests. One viral video captured a Jewish UCLA student being denied access to his class building by masked protestors wearing keffiyehs. Despite his protests that he was a paying student with a right to attend class, protestors refused to move.
“I’m a UCLA student, I deserve to go here, we pay tuition,” the student said in the video. “This is our school and they are not letting me walk in.”
The university took no meaningful disciplinary action against the protestors, prompting legal action. The plaintiffs alleged that UCLA administrators, including Chancellor Gene Block and the Board of Regents, failed to protect Jewish students and enabled a hostile, discriminatory environment.
“When antisemites were terrorizing Jews and excluding them from campus, UCLA chose to protect the thugs and help keep Jews out,” said Yitzchok Frankel, a recent graduate of UCLA Law and one of the plaintiffs. “That was shameful… But today’s court judgment brings justice back to our campus and ensures Jews will be safe and treated equally once again.”
Under the terms of the agreement, UCLA must not only compensate the plaintiffs but also make charitable contributions to Jewish organizations and pay attorneys’ fees and costs. The university will also be subject to a permanent court order barring it from ever again enabling or tolerating the exclusion of Jewish students and faculty.
Mark Rienzi, president of the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty and lead counsel in the case, issued a stern warning to other universities. “Campus administrators across the country willingly bent the knee to antisemites during the encampments,” he said. “They are now on notice: treating Jews like second-class citizens is wrong, illegal, and very costly.”
The settlement is a significant development in the nationwide crackdown on campus antisemitism, spearheaded by the Trump administration. It follows Columbia University’s record-breaking $200 million federal settlement and precedes ongoing negotiations with Harvard University, which may result in a $500 million settlement of its own.
The Trump administration has made it clear that universities turning a blind eye to antisemitism will face legal and financial consequences. “The precedent is now set,” said a senior administration official. “You either enforce the law and protect your Jewish students, or you pay the price.”
UCLA’s decision to settle — and to admit through consent judgment that it violated the civil rights of Jewish students — could trigger further lawsuits and set a powerful legal standard moving forward. For now, Jewish students at UCLA may finally see relief after more than a year of intimidation and discrimination.
The post UCLA Will Pay $6 Million To Settle Antisemitic Discrimination Complaints appeared first on Real News Now.
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