The University of California has resolved federal civil rights complaints from students who cited antisemitism and anti-Arab and anti-Muslim discrimination at U.C.L.A. and four other campuses following protests over the Israel-Hamas war, the Education Department announced Friday.
The announcement follows similar agreements that the Education Department’s office of civil rights has made in recent months with other schools and institutions including Brown University, Temple University, the University of Cincinnati and the School District of Philadelphia.
Since the University of California and other universities receive federal funds, they are required to comply with federal regulations that prohibit discrimination on the basis of race and other protected identities. The regulations were designed to prevent intolerant environments that hinder learning. Dozens of schools have faced inquiries from the Education Department since 2023 over complaints of such violations, with many still pending.
After the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israel and the subsequent invasion of Gaza by Israeli forces, many students at U.C.L.A. said they heard antisemitic chants at pro-Palestinian events, including “no peace until they’re dead,” according to a report by the Education Department after an investigation. The department also said that pro-Palestinian students complained that they had been harassed by other students and members of the public.
In April, at a pro-Palestinian encampment on the U.C.L.A. campus, some Jewish students said they were denied access to occupied areas and campus buildings by pro-Palestinian protesters unless they renounced Zionism, and many Palestinian, Arab and pro-Palestinian students said they were attacked by counterprotesters, the department said.
Similar environments hostile to Jewish, Arab and Muslim students were reported at University of California campuses at Davis, San Diego, Santa Barbara and Santa Cruz, the department said. At UC Santa Barbara, the department said the school had been notified of antisemitic vandalism at a dorm room and signs at a student center targeting some Jewish students.
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“Every strike feels closer and closer and closer. You don’t know where to hide, where to escape,” said Mariam Saleh, 23, who was visiting relatives in the Bekaa Valley village of Britel when the strikes began this week.
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