The University of California, Los Angeles announced Tuesday that it has reached a settlement in a discrimination lawsuit brought by Jewish students and a faculty member, agreeing to pay more than $6 million.
The plaintiffs, who brought the lawsuit in June 2024, accused the university of failing to take action when pro-Palestinian protesters set up encampments last spring. They claimed that the protest areas were inaccessible to Jewish students and amounted to what plaintiffs referred to as “Jew exclusion zones.” While UCLA has denied any wrongdoing, it agreed to settle fully, with $50,000 payments to each of the plaintiffs in addition to $2.33 million in donations to organizations that combat antisemitism.
“We are pleased with the terms of today’s settlement. The injunction and other terms UCLA has agreed to demonstrate real progress in the fight against antisemitism,” the parties said in a joint statement.
In the settlement, UCLA agreed to ensure that Jewish students and faculty would not be excluded from any programs, activities or campus areas. The eight organizations to which the school agreed to donate include Hillel at UCLA, the Academic Engagement Network and the Anti-Defamation League, the settlement said. Additionally, the school said it will allocate $320,000 for its Initiative to Combat Antisemitism, according to a press release about the settlement.
“Antisemitism, harassment, and other forms of intimidation are antithetical to our values and have no place at the University of California,” UC Board of Regents Chair Janet Reilly said. “We have been clear about where we have fallen short, and we are committed to doing better moving forward.”
Yitzchok Frankel, a UCLA student and plaintiff in the case, said in a statement that though he was disappointed in the school’s initial actions, the settlement was a positive development.
“Today’s court judgment brings justice back to our campus and ensures Jews will be safe and be treated equally once again,” he said.
The settlement comes more than a year after students staged pro-Palestinian protests at universities across the country, with tent encampments established at many campuses. At UCLA, protesters called on the school to divest from companies that have ties to Israel with an encampment of their own in late April 2024. Counterprotesters attacked the encampment, leading to violent clashes. Police were eventually called and more than 200 people were arrested.
Months later, the school implemented a “zero tolerance” policy, banning encampments, masks that hide identities and any protests that block pathways.
Lawsuits have also been filed by Pro-Palestinian protestors and supporters as well. UCLA was hit with a lawsuit in October, accusing it of suppressing antiwar voices and ordering students and faculty protesters to be arrested unlawfully. The suit, filed by the American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California, also accused the school of violating free speech rights. The case is still being litigated.
Columbia University last week said it will pay $200 million to the Trump administration to restore funding that had been cut over allegations it violated anti-discrimination laws. In March, the administration said it was canceling $400 million in grants to the Ivy League institution, accusing it of “inaction in the face of persistent harassment of Jewish students.”
Earlier this month, Barnard College in Manhattan, an all-women’s affiliate of Columbia University, also settled a lawsuit that accused the school of failing to sufficiently combat antisemitism on campus. Among the terms it had agreed to, the school said it would ban masks at protests and that it would refuse to meet or negotiate with a coalition of pro-Palestinian student groups.
The settlement immediately drew criticism from its students and faculty. Nara Milanich, a Barnard history professor who is Jewish, told that the settlement appears to “equate criticism of Israel with antisemitism.”
“That is a problem for critical thought and academic freedom,” she said.