WASHINGTON / LOS ANGELES — The Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division has filed a federal lawsuit against the University of California for its deliberate indifference to race and national origin discrimination against Jewish and Israeli students at its UCLA campus — marking one of the most consequential federal civil rights actions against an American university in recent history. The action charges UCLA with violating Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 by tolerating a hostile educational environment that left Jewish and Israeli students physically assaulted, excluded from campus, and deprived of their right to education.

The lawsuit, filed in the Central District of California, stems from the Department’s investigation into a wave of antisemitic incidents at UCLA following the Hamas attacks of October 7, 2023 — and from written findings concluding that UCLA failed to fulfill its legal obligations under federal civil rights law in responding to those incidents. It is the second federal civil rights action brought against UCLA in connection with its treatment of Jewish members of the campus community: earlier this year, the Department sued UCLA for subjecting its Jewish and Israeli employees to an antisemitic hostile work environment.

From October 7 to April 2024: A Campus Descends Into Hatred

According to the DOJ complaint, following the Hamas attacks of October 7, 2023, antisemitic hatred at UCLA intensified dramatically — reaching a point where Jewish and Israeli students were physically assaulted, injured, excluded from their own campus, and systematically deprived of educational opportunities because of their perceived Jewish or Israeli heritage. UCLA, the complaint alleges, responded with deliberate indifference at every turn.

The crisis reached a flash point in April 2024, when masked demonstrators erected an encampment outside Royce Hall — one of UCLA’s most iconic academic buildings — and launched a sustained campaign of violence and blockade against Jewish and Israeli students.

The Legal Case: Title VI and Federal Funding Fraud

The DOJ’s lawsuit charges UCLA on two distinct but related grounds. First, the university violated Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 through its deliberate indifference to pervasive on-campus antisemitism targeting students on the basis of race and national origin. Second — and perhaps more consequentially — UCLA breached its federal funding contracts and grants by falsely certifying compliance with Title VI duties while simultaneously allowing discrimination against Jewish and Israeli students to infect its campus.

A Message to Every American University

The DOJ’s action against UCLA carries ramifications that extend far beyond the Los Angeles campus. By invoking both Title VI and the terms of federal funding agreements, the Justice Department is signaling clearly that universities which accept federal money have a legal — not merely moral — obligation to protect Jewish students from discrimination and violence.

Assistant Attorney General Dhillon’s framing makes the stakes explicit: this is not a political dispute about Middle East policy. It is a civil rights enforcement action. Jewish and Israeli identity is protected under federal law, and universities that respond with deliberate indifference to hate-motivated violence against students who hold that identity will face federal accountability — in court, and through their funding.

Faith & Freedom News will continue to follow the progress of this landmark civil rights lawsuit and its implications for Jewish students at UCLA and universities across the United States.