Trump administration says UCLA allowed antisemitism on campus, files lawsuit
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- DOJ sues UCLA, alleging hostile work environment and antisemitism.
- Lawsuit says UCLA failed to fully investigate two professors’ complaints.
- Case follows prior $1.2B demand and a blocked $500M UC research funding freeze.
The Trump administration sued the University of California on Tuesday, accusing its UCLA campus of creating a hostile work environment and failing to stem antisemitic incidents in the wake of controversy over Israel’s military response to the Oct. 7, 2023, attack by Hamas.
The lawsuit filed in federal court in Los Angeles seeks unspecified damages for two professors who said they were harassed because of their Jewish identity and alleges the university failed to fully investigate their complaints. It also accuses the university of allowing protesters of Israel’s prolonged war in Gaza to mistreat Jewish and Israeli students, demanding to know if they identified as Zionists and refusing to allow them access to parts of the campus.
The lawsuit is the latest salvo in an ongoing battle between President Donald Trump and UC campuses. Last year, the administration demanded a payment of $1.2 billion to settle its accusations of antisemitism at UCLA. Prior actions included an attempt to freeze $500 million in federal research funding for the UC system, including UCLA, which was later blocked by a federal judge.
In addition to taking aim at the university system, the Trump administration has sued the state of California over numerous policy disagreements, including over animal welfare protections Trump says contribute to the high cost of eggs. California, in turn, has sued the administration more than 50 times.
In response to the lawsuit, UCLA spokeswoman Mary Osako said the university has taken significant steps to combat antisemitism on campus.
”Antisemitism is abhorrent and has no place at UCLA or anywhere,” Osako said in a statement emailed to The Bee.
In addition to establishing an initiative to combat antisemitism on campus, the Chancellor Julio Frenk has also reorganized the university’s office of civil rights and hired an oversight and accountability officer for it, she said.
“UCLA has taken concrete and significant steps to strengthen campus safety, enforce policies, and combat antisemitism in a systemic and sustained manner,” Osako said. In connection with a settlement in a previous lawsuit, the university is also supporting community organizations engaged in combating antisemitism, she said.
The university has also revoked student group status for the organization Students for Justice in Palestine, and suspended for four years the group’s counterpart for graduate students.
“These ongoing and long-standing institutional efforts, including clear expectations and a commitment to enforcement, are working,” she said.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the lawsuit, which was filed by the civil rights division of the U.S. Department of Justice. But Newsom in August called the demand for $1.2 billion extortion.
“This isn’t about protecting Jewish students — it’s a billion-dollar political shakedown from the pay-to-play president. Trump has weaponized the Department of Justice to punish California, crush free thinking, and kneecap the greatest public university system in the world,” Newsom said in a joint statement with legislative leaders and Jewish Caucus members.
The group said the university had taken “aggressive, concrete steps to crack down on the vile scourge of antisemitism on campus,” and pointed to Trump’s moves to reduce federal funding for investigating and researching hate crimes.
The Justice Department’s lawsuit says that UCLA failed to fully investigate complaints made by two professors, Ian Holloway and Kamran Shamsa, and that they were subjected to hostile work conditions and disparate treatment because of their religion.
Holloway, who along with 300 Jewish faculty members signed a letter condemning the Oct. 7 attack and criticizing students and faculty they believed had celebrated it, said that afterward he was subjected to intimidation, the lawsuit said. Among other things, a note was scrawled on the blackboard of his classroom calling out the missive, the lawsuit said. Holloway’s concerns were diminished, with one colleague saying he could not be experiencing discrimination because he was white, and another saying that professors who signed the letter could not be trusted to serve on certain peer review committees, the lawsuit said.
During protests over the war in Gaza, Jewish students and faculty were subjected to chants of “Death to Israel” and “Death to Jews,” while images including swastikas were displayed, the complaint said.
“Following the October 7, 2023, massacre in Israel, UCLA’s administration turned a blind eye to—and at times facilitated—grossly antisemitic acts and systematically ignored cries for help from its own terrified Jewish and Israeli employees,” the complaint said. “Activists at the now infamous encampment at Royce Hall physically excluded Jewish students, faculty, and staff from portions of campus.”
Some protests and marches were held without permits and without adhering to university rules, it said, disrupting classes. At times, protesters wore masks and shouted anti-Jewish slogans, including carrying signs reading “Kill the Jews” and “Jews = KKK,” the complaint said.
A similar case filed by last year by Jewish students and backed by a conservative law firm was settled in late July.
This story was originally published February 24, 2026 at 3:26 PM.
