The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) has agreed to pay more than $6 million to settle discrimination claims after allowing “Exclusion Zones” that blocked Jewish students from accessing campus.
Jewish students and faculty filed the lawsuit in June through the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, alleging UCLA helped protesters enforce exclusionary zones that prevented Jews from accessing classrooms, the library and other critical campus areas.
Yitzchok Frankel, a recent UCLA Law graduate and lead plaintiff in the lawsuit, shared his personal experience with Fox News Digital.
“When antisemites were terrorizing Jews and excluding them from campus, UCLA chose to protect the thugs and help keep Jews out,” ho told Fox News Digital. “That was shameful, and it is sad that my own school defended those actions for more than a year. But today’s court judgment brings justice back to our campus and ensures Jews will be safe and be treated equally once again.”
(Photo by Keith Birmingham/MediaNews Group/Pasadena Star-News via Getty Images)
In a strong ruling last August, Federal Judge Mark Scarsi condemned the protesters’ segregation tactics and ordered UCLA to stop permitting such exclusionary practices.
“In 2024, in Los Angeles, Jewish students were excluded from parts of UCLA because they refused to renounce their faith,” Scarsi wrote. “This is so unimaginable and so contrary to our constitutional guarantee of religious freedom that it bears repeating.”
Disturbingly, court documents reveal that UCLA supported the zones by supplying metal barriers and redirecting Jewish students away from certain spaces rather than ensuring they could safely access their campus.
Under the settlement, UCLA will pay $200,000 directly to the four plaintiffs while $2.33 million will be distributed to eight Jewish organizations, including Hillel at UCLA, the Anti-Defamation League, and Chabad of UCLA. UCLA’s own antisemitism initiative will receive $320,000.
The settlement comes just one week after Columbia University agreed to pay $221 million to resolve similar antisemitism claims with the Trump administration. Last Thursday, Education Secretary Linda McMahon praised Columbia’s agreement as a “template” for other universities facing campus antisemitism.
Meanwhile, Harvard University remains under scrutiny, with over $2 billion in federal funds frozen amid ongoing negotiations and litigation. McMahon indicated that talks with Harvard are continuing but declined to comment on other universities under investigation.
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