A federal judge on Tuesday reprimanded UCLA for its handling of pro-Palestinian encampments and ordered the university to guarantee equal access to Jewish students, three of whom alleged in a lawsuit that the university allowed protesters to block Jews from parts of campus because of their faith.
In issuing his preliminary injunction, U.S. District Judge Mark C. Scarsi sided with the students, whose June lawsuit said the university helped enforce a “Jewish exclusion zone” on campus during pro-Palestinian protests when UCLA erected bicycle barriers around an encampment. Additionally, the suit alleged that UCLA hired security guards who allowed protesters to cross into the encampment but not Jewish students.
“In the year 2024, in the United States of America, in the State of California, in the City of Los Angeles, Jewish students were excluded from parts of the UCLA campus because they refused to renounce their faith. This fact is so unimaginable and so abhorrent to our constitutional guarantee of religious freedom that it bears repeating: Jewish students were excluded from parts of the UCLA campus because they refused to renounce their faith,” Scarsi wrote.
“UCLA does not deny this. Instead, it maintains that it has no responsibility to protect the religious freedom of its Jewish students because the exclusion was planned by third-party protesters,” Scarsi wrote. “But under constitutional principles, UCLA cannot allow services to some students when it knows that other students are excluded on religious grounds, regardless of who planned the exclusion.”
The judge’s order gives UCLA two days, until Thursday, to order UCLA police, security and student affairs “not to assist or participate in any obstruction of Jewish students’ access to normally available campus programs, activities and areas.” This coincides with guidance for the law school’s fall semester. Fall quarter classes for undergraduate students begin in September.
Scarsi's decision is not the final word on the merits of the case. Instead, he says the students who filed the suit would likely suffer irreparable harm if he did not issue a preliminary injunction while the case proceeds.
In a statement, one of the plaintiffs, Yitzchok Frankel, welcomed the decision.
“No student should have to fear being barred from their campus for being Jewish,” said Frankel, who will be a third-year law student this fall. “I am grateful that the court has ordered UCLA to stop this shameful anti-Jewish conduct.”
Frankel and two other students were represented by the nonprofit Becket Fund for Religious Liberty and the law firm Clement & Murphy.
A UCLA official said in a statement that the order would “unduly hamper” how the university could respond to events on campus.
“UCLA is committed to fostering a campus culture where everyone feels welcome and free from intimidation, discrimination and harassment,” said Mary Osako, vice provost for strategic communications. “The district court’s ruling would unduly limit our ability to respond to events on the ground and meet the needs of the Bruin community. We are closely reviewing the judge’s ruling and considering all of our options moving forward.”
UCLA indicated in court documents filed earlier Tuesday that it would appeal the court order.
The case centers on a pro-Palestinian encampment that sprang up on Royce Quad on April 25. It was one of the largest and most controversial of those built on college campuses across the United States to demand that universities divest from their financial ties to Israel. When a mob attacked the camp on April 30, law enforcement’s response was delayed by several hours. Police dismantled the camp on May 1, arresting more than 200 people.
UCLA had opposed the suit, saying its actions related to the camp were intended to ensure safety and reduce tensions, not discriminate against Jews.
Lawyers for the university also argued that significant changes have occurred since the April encampment that made concerns about future protests less relevant. The changes included the closure of several new encampments on the same day they were set up, the creation of a new campus security office, the hiring of a new police chief and strict enforcement of UCLA policies, including those banning overnight camping.
There has also been significant debate over whether the camp discriminated against Jews. Pro-Palestinian activist students and faculty at UCLA, including a group from the College for Justice in Palestine that filed an amicus brief, have drawn a distinction. They say the protests were anti-Zionist but not anti-Jewish and that many protesters were Jewish.
But for many Jews, Zionism — the belief in a Jewish state in the Jewish ancestral homeland — is key to Jewish identity. In his ruling, Scarsi agreed with that view, saying the plaintiffs “claim that supporting the Jewish State of Israel is their sincerely held religious belief.”
Tuesday's court order increases pressure on University of California regents and campus leaders, who have said they will no longer tolerate encampments and enforce protest rules.
President Michael V. Drake is working with UC leaders on a systemwide plan for how campuses will respond to potential fall protests over the Israel-Hamas war and violations of free speech guidelines. State lawmakers are withholding $25 million in state funding until Drake delivers a report on those measures by Oct. 1.
