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UCLA Agrees to $6.45 Million Settlement and 15-Year Consent Decree Over Antisemitism Case

It follows a DOJ finding that UCLA tolerated antisemitic exclusion, locking in multimillion-dollar payments alongside a long-term consent decree safeguarding religious freedom.

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FILE - Demonstrators walk in an encampment on the UCLA campus after clashes between pro-Israel and pro-Palestinian groups, May 1, 2024, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong, File)
People walk around UCLA on Thursday, July 10, 2025 in Westwood, CA. (Juliana Yamada / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)
Los Angeles, CA – April 25:UCLA Jewish students waving Israeli flags counter-protest fellow students in their Palestinian solidarity camp on their Westwood campus on Thursday, April 25, 2024. College protests around the country are seeking their schools divestment in Israel over the Israel-Hamas war. (Photo by Sarah Reingewirtz/MediaNews Group/Los Angeles Daily News via Getty Images)

Overview

  • The settlement allocates $50,000 to each of the four plaintiffs, about $2.3 million to eight Jewish community groups, $230,000 to UCLA’s Initiative to Combat Antisemitism and the remainder toward legal fees.
  • A 15-year consent decree will bar UCLA from knowingly allowing religious-based exclusion of Jewish students, faculty or staff from programs or campus areas.
  • The Justice Department filed a statement of interest in March and on July 29 issued a notice concluding UCLA’s response to the spring 2024 encampment reflected deliberate indifference under the Equal Protection Clause and Title VI.
  • The lawsuit arose after a pro-Palestinian encampment on UCLA’s Royce Quad in late April 2024 enforced a “Jew Exclusion Zone” that blocked Jewish access to lecture halls and core campus spaces.
  • The agreement underscores heightened federal enforcement of antisemitism claims on campuses and may prompt other universities to revise protest management and inclusion policies.