DOJ Sues UCLA for Antisemitism Failures

The Trump administration escalated its fight with University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) this week with the announcement that the U.S. Department of Justice’s Office of Civil Rights is suing the school for failing to protect Jewish students from severe and pervasive antisemitic harassment relating to incidents since the October 7, 2023 of Israel by Hamas.
In the suit the DOJ outlined several incidents of antisemitic harassment of Jewish students on the UCLA campus including “signs, graffiti, and chants with antisemitic messages such as “die you f*****g Jew” and “F**K ALL Jews” as well as multiple displays of Nazi swastikas were found throughout UCLA’s campus, including one swastika carved into a tree. A Jewish star was also drawn on the ground with the words “STEP HERE” written on it.”
The university defended its efforts to combat antisemitsim on its campus stating that they have an “unwavering commitment to providing a safe, inclusive environment for all members of our community.”
Antisemitism has been a problem for colleges and universities across the country since the October 7, 2023 attack on Israel as administrators confronted how to balance free speech with the safety of their Jewish students. The problem is that they largely gave free rein to pro-Palestinian protesters at the expense of the Jewish community and were unable to control the verbal and physical attacks on the Jewish students and faculty that ensued.