Justice Department Sues University of California, Alleging Anti-Semitic Educational Environment

The Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division filed a lawsuit against the University of California–Los Angeles (UCLA) over alleged failure to protect Jewish and Israeli students on campus.

The lawsuit, filed with the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California Western Division on May 26, accuses the institution of “ongoing deliberate indifference to discrimination against Jewish and Israeli students” at its university in violation of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

Title VI bans the exclusion of or discrimination against an individual on the basis of race, color, or national origin in any program or activity that receives financial assistance from the federal government.

The lawsuit concerns events following the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas terrorist attack against Israel that killed roughly 1,200 individuals, including 46 Americans. Following this attack and Israel’s military response in Gaza, a wave of “antisemitism and anti-Israeli” events spread across U.S. campuses, including UCLA, the complaint alleges.

On April 25, 2024, protesters and armed agitators built an illegal encampment, surrounded it with barriers, and formed human chains to block Israelis and Jews from entering academic buildings, according to the complaint. “[The protesters] kicked and slapped Jews, beat Jews with sticks, and assaulted Jews with pepper spray. One Jewish student was knocked unconscious and was taken to the hospital with an open head wound,” the complaint states.

“Although UCLA knew that its Jewish and Israeli students risked physical assault when attempting to go to class or the library, UCLA inexplicably took no serious action whatsoever until May 2, 2024, when it finally allowed police to clear the encampment.”

According to the complaint, the university’s own Task Force to Combat Antisemitism and Anti-Israeli Bias concluded that the institution’s officials continued to refuse to break up the encampment even after Jewish students were denied free passage to access campus facilities.

The complaint alleges that the university’s Office of Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion received more than 100 complaints regarding anti-Semitism and anti-Israeli sentiment, which ended up getting “routinely ignored.”

The lawsuit seeks to compel the university to comply with Title VI regulations and revamp anti-discrimination procedures to ensure that discrimination complaints related to Israeli and Jewish students are properly probed and addressed. It is also looking to recover the federal taxpayer subsidies granted to the university.

Responding to the lawsuit, University of California President James B. Milliken said in a May 26 statement that the institution’s leadership has been unequivocal regarding their stance that anti-Semitism has “no place” at the university.

Milliken said the institution has implemented several reforms and programs to combat anti-Semitism on campus and to ensure student safety.

“UCLA Chancellor Julio Frenk, whose family was profoundly affected by Nazi antisemitism and the Holocaust, has made the protection of Jewish students, faculty, and staff on campus the highest priority since the day he took office,” Milliken said.

“It is so disappointing that this most recent lawsuit shows no recognition of or respect for that essential work. This litigation—and other actions taken by the federal government targeting the University of California—does nothing to aid our ongoing efforts to address antisemitism and create safe and welcoming campus environments for all members of our community.”

The lawsuit against UCLA comes after the Federal Task Force to Combat Anti-Semitism said in February that it was visiting 10 college campuses that allegedly experienced anti-Semitic incidents since October 2023, according to a Feb. 28 statement from the Department of Justice. UCLA was among the 10 universities.

Incidents of anti-Semitism on U.S. college campuses declined in 2025 from the previous year, the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), an organization founded to fight anti-Semitism and advocate for Jewish people, said in a May 6 statement.

“In 2025, ADL recorded 583 antisemitic incidents on college campuses, which is 66 percent lower than in 2024 (1,694 incidents),” the organization said, attributing the decline partly to colleges addressing these issues.

Despite the annual decline, the threat of anti-Semitism on colleges is “far from gone,” the ADL said, highlighting that such incidents in 2025 were still nearly three times higher than in 2021.