Justice Department Threatens UCLA With Discrimination Lawsuit Soon After $6M Settlement

The Department of Justice (DOJ) sent a letter to University of California at Los Angeles’s (UCLA) president Tuesday, laying out an extensive list of the University’s alleged failures at combating antisemitism. This comes closely following a major settlement that had the University shelling out $6 million for allowing blatant antisemitism, including a “Jew exclusion zone.”

This move by the Trump administration comes after attacks against prestigious schools for DEI initiatives and well-documented antisemitism. Recently, President Donald Trump announced a massive $200 million settlement with Columbia University for its failure to properly handle anti-Israel protests.

As U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi said in a press release, “Our investigation into the University of California system has found concerning evidence of systemic anti-Semitism at UCLA that demands severe accountability from the institution.”

She added that, “This disgusting breach of civil rights against students will not stand: DOJ will force UCLA to pay a heavy price for putting Jewish Americans at risk and continue our ongoing investigations into other campuses in the UC system.”

The 10-page letter sent to UCLA President Dr. Michael V. Drake lists quite a few instances of antisemitism on the school’s campus since the Hamas terror attack on Israel on October 7th, 2023, which set off countless anti-Israel protests on college campuses.

According to the letter, the DOJ alleges that UCLA failed to address illegal violent encampments on school property that occurred in April 2024. Due to these encampments, a few Jewish students were assaulted– including one student who was knocked unconscious and hospitalized.

The letter says that, “The encampment was in clear violation of a number of existing content-neutral time, place, and manner rules issued by UCLA and the greater UC System regarding the use of campus spaces for expressive activities.”

Among the other instances of antisemitism that the DOJ recorded was at least 11 separate complaints alleging that demonstrators were discriminating against students because they were Jewish. Students reported being told that, “Hitler missed one,” while at other times they were being coerced to denounce Zionism.

The letter cites the equal protection clause of the 14th amendment and Title XI, which “require that when a school is made aware of alleged harassment, it must respond reasonably by taking timely and appropriate action to investigate or otherwise determine what occurred.”

This lengthy note to UCLA’s president is not a formal complaint or lawsuit. However, it does give UCLA a deadline of September 2nd to reach a resolution with the DOJ – at the threat of a possible lawsuit – in order to “ensure that the hostile environment is eliminated and reasonable steps are taken to prevent its recurrence.”

U.S. Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon commented about the rampant antisemitism pervasive in the nearly 50,000 student school.

“UCLA failed to take timely and appropriate action in response to credible claims of harm and hostility on its campus” Dhillon said. “Its inaction constitutes a clear violation of our federal civil rights laws, and the Justice Department will hold UCLA accountable to their legal obligations so that all students can have equal protection under the law.”

A UCLA spokesman said that the school “has addressed and will continue to address the issues raised in yesterday’s Department of Justice notice,” and that the school has “cooperated fully with the Department of Justice’s investigation and are reviewing its findings closely.