The University of California has agreed to a sweeping $6.13 million settlement over allegations that it allowed Jewish students to be harassed, excluded, and intimidated during anti-Israel protests at UCLA in 2024.

The settlement, finalized Tuesday, came within hours of the U.S. Department of Justice announcing that UCLA violated both the U.S. Constitution and the Civil Rights Act of 1964 by failing to protect Jewish and Israeli students.

At the heart of the lawsuit, Frankel v. Regents of the University of California, was a chilling accusation: that university officials knowingly permitted protesters to establish a “Jew Exclusion Zone” at UCLA — an area of campus where Jewish students and faculty were physically barred from entering, including classrooms and libraries. Protesters erected barricades, used violence and intimidation, and reportedly screened individuals based on ethnicity or political views.

“When antisemites were terrorizing Jews and excluding them from campus, UCLA chose to protect the thugs and help keep Jews out,” said lead plaintiff Yitzchok Frankel, a recent UCLA Law graduate. “That was shameful. Today’s court judgment brings justice back to our campus.”

In a parallel announcement, the DOJ’s Civil Rights Division stated that UCLA acted with “deliberate indifference” and allowed a “hostile educational environment” to fester, violating both the Equal Protection Clause and Title VI of the Civil Rights Act.

“UCLA failed to take timely and appropriate action in response to credible claims of harm and hostility on its campus,” said Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon. “Their inaction constitutes a clear violation of our federal civil rights laws.”

While the DOJ did not explicitly mention the lawsuit, the timing and language reinforced the federal government’s sharp rebuke of how UCLA handled the encampments and rising antisemitism.

According to Becket, the religious liberty law firm representing the plaintiffs, the deal includes:

• $2.3 million to eight Jewish and antisemitism-focused nonprofits, including Hillel at UCLA, the ADL, and the Jewish Federation’s Campus Impact Network
• $320,000 to UCLA’s Initiative to Combat Antisemitism
• Damages and attorney fees for the plaintiffs
• A permanent federal court order barring UCLA from ever again allowing Jews to be excluded from public spaces on campus

The agreement makes permanent a preliminary injunction issued last year by a federal judge requiring UCLA to ensure the free movement of Jewish students.

“Campus administrators across the country willingly bent the knee to antisemites during the encampments,” said Mark Rienzi, Becket’s president. “They are now on notice: Treating Jews like second-class citizens is wrong, illegal, and very costly.”

Despite graphic evidence and rising public outcry, UCLA fought the case for more than a year. It was only after damning internal reports and growing federal scrutiny that the university reversed course and agreed to the settlement.

An internal university task force had previously acknowledged that UCLA “allowed antisemitism to fester,” citing swastikas scrawled in classrooms, chants of “Israelis are native to hell,” and physical assaults on Jewish students and staff — incidents the university failed to adequately address.

Still, in a joint statement issued with the plaintiffs Tuesday, UCLA sought to frame the agreement as progress.

“We are pleased with the terms of today’s settlement,” the university and plaintiffs wrote. “The injunction and other terms UCLA has agreed to demonstrate real progress in the fight against antisemitism.”

The case has become a national flashpoint in the broader reckoning over campus antisemitism following the Hamas attacks of October 7, 2023, and the war in Gaza that followed. Demonstrations at UCLA and dozens of other campuses were marred by violence, antisemitic rhetoric, and repeated violations of school policy and U.S. law.

Photos from the time show protesters wrapped in keffiyehs and waving Palestinian and Yemeni flags as they blocked entrances and physically confronted Jewish students. Police were eventually forced to breach the encampment in the early hours of May 2, 2024, amid nighttime clashes and rising fears of escalation.

Despite this, UCLA had resisted taking disciplinary or legal action against many of the protesters — a decision that drew fierce criticism and now appears to have backfired.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)