US Justice Department sues UCLA alleging antisemitic educational environment

[u/awaythrowawaying]

https://www.reuters.com/world/us-justice-department-sues-ucla-alleging-antisemitic-educational-environment-2026-05-26/

[u/justafutz]

It seems more than a little strange that we’re talking about how UCLA let students set up Jew free zones on campus for weeks, and your response is to say “well what about this incident where counter protestors got fed up and a clash broke out?” Whataboutism isn’t my favorite thing.

Yes, UCLA is where two sides of protestors got into a clash. The stories differ. What’s notable is that one side was enforcing a “Jew free zone” on campus, and the other was responding to that. Whoever was violent or started the violence should be investigated (and was). That has nothing to do with the fact that for weeks prior to that, the university turned a blind eye to an illegal encampment enforcing Jew free zones on campus. One of those is deliberate indifference, which is legally a civil rights violation by the university, while the other is just incompetence in a single incident.

In fact, if the university had cleared the encampment as required by law to protect the civil rights of its Jewish students, the clash wouldn’t have happened.

So in a way, thank you for bringing up yet another reason that UCLA’s failure to protect Jewish students spiraled into a clash that harmed even more people. Just more evidence of why it’s important to enforce rules to protect civil rights properly.

[u/Achrus → u/justafutz]

Why is the DoJ suing over Title VI violations then?

[u/justafutz → u/Achrus]

The DOJ is suing over Title VI violations because UCLA was deliberately indifferent to antisemitism on campus that led to Jewish students being excluded from campus and campus services. That is a violation of Jewish students' civil rights, and is illegal for any entity (like UCLA) that receives taxpayer funding.

[u/Achrus → u/justafutz]

Jewish students were excluded from portions of the UCLA campus because they refused to denounce their faith.

Title VI does not cover religion. Title VI instead prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, or national origin. But not religion.

[u/justafutz → u/Achrus]

http://www.ed.gov/laws-and-policy/civil-rights-laws/title-vi/title-vi-key-issues/discrimination-based-shared-ancestry-or-ethnic-characteristics

None of the laws that OCR enforces expressly address religious discrimination. However, Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Title VI) protects students of any religion from discrimination, including harassment, based on a student’s actual or perceived:

* shared ancestry or ethnic characteristics, or

* citizenship or residency in a country with a dominant religion or distinct religious identity.

In practice, this covers religion. Which is why I mentioned it that way instead of getting sucked into the nuances. When it comes to Jews, this is a long established application of Title VI.

[u/Achrus → u/justafutz]

So they’re suing for Israel, not Judaism?

[u/justafutz → u/Achrus]

No. As I explained, religion (especially Judaism) is typically covered by Title VI because of the "shared ancestry or ethnic characteristics" provision.

There are multiple counts in the DOJ complaint. Part of it is discrimination against Israelis on the basis of national origin, which is explicitly protected by Title VI. The second part is:

Title VI prohibits discrimination based on race, including discrimination against Jews or those perceived to be Jewish because of their ancestry.

As I said, Jews are covered by Title VI. So it's both that they're suing over.