The University of California at Los Angeles cannot allow pro-Palestinian protesters to prevent Jewish students from accessing campus buildings, classes and services, a federal judge has ruled.
The order by U.S. District Judge Mark Scarsi appears to be the first ruling against an American university connected to the protests that erupted on hundreds of college campuses earlier this year in protest of the Israel-Gaza conflict.
The decision to issue a preliminary injunction against the prestigious university on Tuesday came as part of a lawsuit filed in June by three Jewish students who said pro-Palestinian protesters prevented them from entering campus based on their faith.
“In the year 2024, in the United States of America, in the state of California, in the city of Los Angeles, Jewish students are excluded from parts of the UCLA campus because they refuse to denounce their faith,” Scarsi said, calling it “unthinkable” and “abhorrent”.
They also banned the school from engaging in any programs, activities, or access to campus buildings if they discovered any of these things were not available to Jewish students.
In court documents, the school argued that it could not be held legally responsible for alleged discrimination committed by a third party. The university also said it worked with law enforcement to dismantle the encampments and took steps to improve its response to future protests, including creating a new campus safety office and preventing at least three new attempts to occupy parts of campus.
Mary Osako, the school’s vice chancellor for strategic communications, said in a statement that UCLA is considering “all options” in response to the decision.
“UCLA is committed to cultivating a campus culture where everyone feels welcome and free from intimidation, discrimination, and harassment,” he said. “The District Court’s decision would improperly impede our ability to respond to grassroots incidents and meet the needs of the Bruin community.”
“No student should ever have to fear being barred from entering our campus because he or she is Jewish,” law student Yitzchok Frankel, one of the students who filed the suit, said in a statement.
UCLA made national headlines when masked assailants armed with sticks and rods attacked a pro-Palestinian camp on April 30, leading to physical violence and the use of pepper spray between both sides.
The following night police forcefully demolished the camp and arrested over 200 people.
Activists criticized police for responding too slowly to the attack and then acting too aggressively to clear out the tent camp a day later. The head of the campus police department was reassigned pending an external review.
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