DOJ Finds UCLA Violated Civil Rights Law Against Jewish, Israeli Students

The U.S. Department of Justice has formally accused the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) of violating federal civil rights laws by failing to protect Jewish and Israeli students from antisemitic harassment during pro-Palestinian protests linked to the Israel-Hamas conflict. Attorney General Pam Bondi stated that UCLA acted with deliberate indifference, creating a hostile educational environment in violation of the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment and Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The DOJ's findings come after UCLA agreed to pay over $6 million to settle a lawsuit brought by Jewish students and faculty alleging the university allowed antisemitic incidents to persist, including during an unlawful encampment in April 2024. The federal investigation highlights the university's slow and inadequate response to repeated complaints of antisemitism amid heightened campus tensions following the October 2023 Hamas attacks and Israel’s military response in Gaza. The DOJ has warned that UCLA risks losing federal funding if corrective actions are not taken and emphasized broader concerns about systemic antisemitism within the University of California system. UCLA has not publicly commented on the DOJ's allegations.