News

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Jewish Grad Organization Commends Courageous Students in Landmark UCLA Antisemitism Settlement

Dear JGO Community,

Yesterday, the University of California system reached a landmark legal settlement with Jewish students and faculty who were excluded from parts of UCLA’s campus during the encampment of Spring 2024.

This settlement marks a meaningful step toward addressing the serious challenges Jewish students have faced at UCLA over the last 21 months. It reflects a growing recognition that universities can and must do more to protect Jewish students from exclusion, harassment, and hostility.

For The Jewish Grad Organization (JGO), this case has been personal: our movement was born at UCLA in 2011, and we remain deeply invested in the campus and its community even as we’ve grown into the leading voice for Jewish graduate students on 150+ campuses nationwide.

But most importantly, we are especially proud that two of the four plaintiffs were grad student leaders of our affiliate Jewish Law Students Association (JLSA) at UCLA Law, who stepped forward with our encouragement and support.

What these students endured was painful, isolating, and unacceptable. It was also against the law. But rather than retreat, our students stood tall. They demanded the equal protection that every student deserves, on behalf of the entire campus community. Thanks to their courage and perseverance, change is coming, not just at UCLA, but potentially at universities across the country. JGO is grateful to have played a small part in helping make this outcome possible.

This lawsuit has already set an important precedent by elevating the key legal argument that for many Jews, support for Israel is not merely political opinion, it is a sincere and deeply held expression of Jewish faith protected by the Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment.

As part of the settlement, JGO is among eight Jewish organizations named to receive institutional funding from UCLA. These resources will serve to strengthen our efforts to serve Jewish graduate students and allies through education, leadership development, community-building, and advocacy.

We are honored to be listed alongside several of our communal partners, including the Jewish Federation of Greater Los Angeles, Hillel at UCLA, and ADL, and we are thankful for the spirit of collaboration and collective responsibility this represents.

We commend UCLA Chancellor Dr. Julio Frenk for his brave leadership, responsiveness to Jewish students’ concerns, and for making combating antisemitism a key priority of his new tenure. We look forward to continued collaboration with Chancellor Frenk’s administration and our partners on campus to ensure that this progress continues.

There’s still much work to do. But today, we are inspired by our students—who spoke up, who stayed strong, and who fought for nothing less than full inclusion and protection in campus life.

We will continue to fight for a campus environment where all Jewish students are safe, supported, and empowered to live proudly and lead confidently—because our Jewish future depends on it.

More information can be found in the press coverage below:

• Jewish Insider: “UC settles with Jewish students who sued after being blocked from campus during UCLA encampment”
• Los Angeles Times: “UCLA violated Jewish students’ civil rights with ‘deliberate indifference,’ feds say“

With gratitude,

Rabbi Dave Sorani
Chief Executive Officer

Rabbi Matthew J. Rosenberg, JD
Senior Rabbi & COO

James B. Freedman
Chairman, Advisory Board